The Prince of the South
by Create The Great
Summary: (Full summery inside) Aang lost the 100 year war, and now the world is divided as they all live by rules set by the Fire Empire. The Prince of the South, a boy named Korren, is forced to marry the fire princess after the fire empire feels threatened by the growing strength of the water tribe. But there is more to the south than they know...and more to Korren. Trans!KorraXAsami AU.
1. Chapter 1

**The Prince of the South-**

**Avatar Aang lost the 100 year war and now, nearly eighty-three years later, the world is still trying to find a way to cope with all the devastation it brought. Phoenix King, Ozai, -notoriously known and remembered as Ozai The Frightful- got his wish and now the his Fire Empire rules over the majority of the whats left of the nations. As the 'greatest' nation in the world they belittle and exploit those they can and whoever does not bow are likely to die. There are new laws set in place, and if you wish to keep your head you must abide by them. Bending is a gift, one of which you must you to serve his supremacy, The Fire Lord, Hiroshi Sato, however you can.**

**The air nation is completely wiped out.**

**The Earth Nation, once the greatest in world, is now separated into many different colonies. Divided, they cannot bring themselves to fight against such a great tyranny.**

**The Water Tribes are greatly divided as they war with one another about ideas of liberty often. They strive only to protect themselves and those they hold close to them from a common enemy. That, a name, and an element is all they share.**

**But even divided, The Fire Empire finds things about them to fear. They are a strong people. The North has the spirits on their side, and lately, they've been getting out of hand. The Southern people of tribe are strong often hotheaded and impulsive, but their army is quickly gaining in numbers and strength.**

**Fire Lord Sato fears that it won't be long before a rebellion begins. What better way to get rid of the problem than to join it?**

**They are strong people, and it is said that the man who calls himself 'Chief' of the South, bared himself son unlike any other. Hiroshi is eager to find out why. He arranges a marriage for The Prince of South and his daughter, Princess Asami, but it seems there more to the south than either of them bargained for and more to prince than would ever be imagined.**

**All things LoK and AtLA belong to the honorable and fantastic Bryke and not me. *sadly***

**Warnings: This story carries with it mature themes. This story is VERY VERY AU and will not follow most of the rules for avatarverse created by the show.**

* * *

**Prelude- The Fire Lord's Death**

As the Chief's son, and only child, Korren was granted the honor of sitting to his father's left during his first council meeting, and for every meeting that would be held after that. He was only eight then, but even so young, he knew what it meant and what would be expected of him for that moment on. It meant Korren would indeed be Chief after his father. From the moment he took that seat, he would be expected to prove himself a worthy successor even more so than anyone before him as the decision was made after a year long debate between the High Council -the main leaders of the tribe- and The Elders. It was decided, finally. The members of the high council could not go against the word of the Chief and the Elders, no matter how much they despised it. The news was indirectly made public when Korren's mother packed away all the little water tribe dresses that was sown for him by the women of the tribe and gave them to girls who would happily put them to greater use. Then, she cut his long, girlish hair right above his chin and tied back into a warrior's wolf tail. She dressed him in the clothing of boys still in warrior training, and called him Korren instead of Korra. Suddenly instead of sending her daughter to the healing hut with the other girls in the mornings, she was sending her son to practice his water-bending forms with the other boys his age. It was a strange transition for his mother especially, but it's what Korren wanted. He fought and kicked hard for it, and now it's what the elders were allowing him to do. What was she to say against it? Only a Father could lift his hand to his son, but Tonraq would not. This wasn't something they could spank from him, but even if it was, was it right to do so? This is why the debate lasted a year long. It hard and strange topic to address, there were no rules laid for them, no one they could ask to help them...Some of the tribes men believed there was a dark spirit haunting the Chief's child, and they told Tonraq they'd pray for him.

With a proud grin Korren took his seat beside his father. The council hut was full of the head of households, and their first born boy who would take their place after them. Korren received scowls from some of the men, and blank stares from boys around his age. Suddenly there was a whisper, but before Korren could process what was said, there was another, and another, and another. Suddenly the entire hut was buzzing. The people of the Southern Water Tribe liked to gossip and talk without making much sense. That much Korren knew. So even though the talk was of him, he tried not to make slight of it the best he could. _A prince does not let word hurt his pride._ Yet, as the hut continued to buzz, and get louder by the second, Korren found it extremely hard to ignore the feeling of shame swelling in his chest. He could hardly go anywhere without being noticed by someone, glanced at, talked about. At first it was fine, because after all he is the Chief's offspring, and people were meant to talk about him, but not long after people began to treat his name as an insult. The women were shameful enough to stop speaking, or at least lower their voices when he approached, but the men were as shameless as they were brave. It didn't matter if Korren was there or not, they'd talk about him nasty-like regardless.

The loudest man in the hut to speak was called Griff. He had grown with the Chief, and was nearly as strong and as thick. He was appointed the role of teaching traditional water-bending forms to Korren privately, so that he'd catch up with the other boys quickly by the members of the high council and the elders. Teaching the Prince was meant to be an honor, but Griff quickly refused saying he would not train a woman, no matter how much she looked like a boy.

"You see, Tomare?" Griff called out. Standing, he threw a wicked finger at the Prince, who sat red faced and shaking beside his father. "Now you see it with your own eyes, do you believe it? Tonraq is letting his daughter be his son."

Tomare was a man just a big as Griff and Tonraq, with a long braided beard that fell down onto his chest. "I see it," Tomare said. "If that's the case, why don't we train all the women? Put swords in their hands at least? Bind their hair and have them fight for us while we reside to the healing huts and sow and cook. Wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, you might as well!" Another called out. "This _thing _is a mockery of man. Our Chief mocks his manhood!"

"Enough." The great Chief of the South commanded. With a weary sigh he rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "Just- Enough. Sit down, We can discuss Korren another day. The elders and I have decided. The decision is final. I have not asked him to come so that he may feel more shame." No one was really sure of how the Chief felt about his new son, though there was rumor spreading about the tribe saying that he prayed to the spirits every night to fix Korren... Korren couldn't say for sure if he believed it. His father stopped refusing him a long while ago. Now they only real scowling he ever received was when he messed up something simple.

Griff answered his chief with a huff and a deep grumble. Eyeing Korren he said, "We know you wanted a boy Tonraq, and we're sorry for your misfortune, but binding Korra's hair and calling her by a different name will not make her a boy."

"Who will want to marry her while she is like this?" Tomare said. "Think of her future. A man will not want a woman who steps out of place."

"I'm a boy!" Korren argued, but his voice was too soft to travel well over the noise. It was as if he said nothing. He frowned and buried his head in his hands wanting to hide somewhere dark, somewhere he could not be seen.

"She throws a tantrum so you let her do as she pleases-"

"This is Korren's choice. Would you deny your Prince his right to choose?"

"You talk of not teaching her shame Tonraq, the whole village is ashamed for you. This is disgraceful, I will not follow a chief who calls his arm a leg!"

"Then go North!" Korren screamed as loud as he could. This time, his voice was loud and shrill enough to get their attention. He held his breath as all eyes turned to him. Suddenly he felt smaller than before, but he screamed for attention- and now it was had to say something.

He puffed out his chest, and tried to sound deep and stern like his father. "If you will not follow my father because of me, then go North. Take your things and go, but leave your first born here so he can suffer the dishonor you have brought to his name. You will go North and abide by my uncle. Would you like that Griff? Uncle doesn't call his arm a leg."

Griff became quiet and slowly sank back into his seat. "No." He said. "No one wants to go North."

"Then you will bow to your Prince."

Griff bared his teeth and tightened a hand around the sword that hung from his waist. Though it was meant to be a threat, Korren did nothing but bare his teeth back. After all, he was only a small boy without any real training, and Griff was a man more than twice his size. Prince or not, Griff could kill him if he wanted to. "I will bow to no woman!"

The uproar began again. No one defended Korren, only argued over who was more upset about him. Tonraq stood then and called for silence. "Enough! Korren's title will be discussed another day. That is not why this meeting was called. All you need to know is that my child sits where my child should. You will show respect or you will go North." That was all it took to silence them. After shared looks of disagreement, they all sat.

Tonraq voice was deep and stern. Korren figured that's why it was easy for people to listen to him. You have to demand attention and respect if you want it. There is no other way. Touching his throat, Korren sank further into his seat. His voice would never be that deep or stern. He could not demand respect with a voice like his. Tonraq sat back down as well.

"Korren, as you practiced..." Tonraq said, urging his young son to start the meeting.

Korren gulped and sat up straight once again. "Fire Lord Azulon II has died-"

"Oh come on! Boy or girl, a child is a child! I will not listen to a child!" Griff said. Korren clenched his fists. Tonraq growled for Griff to be quiet.

"He will not learn if he does not practice."

"It's her first-"

"Let him talk! We went over this. Korren!"

Korren started again, "Fire Lord Azulon II has died. It's merely been a fortnight since he's followed his mother and grandfather, but already they're getting ready to anoint their new Fire Lord-"

"It's usually done right after the cremation! Why are they waiting so long? Can you answer that _Korren_?"

"They're having a moment of silence to commemorate Azulon's passing. My father thinks there's more to it, that they're waiting to see if we'll attack!"

"It's probably a ploy." Tonraq said, knowing the men would not listen to his boy any longer than they had. "They're waiting to see if anyone is brave enough to defy their laws in their moment of silence."

"I say we do-" A man named Barse said. "Without a Lord, they have no one to command them into battle. A moment of silence is the same as a moment of weakness."

"We will not get this opportunity again, Chief." Griff said. "Ozai The Frightful passed and Azula's grief lasted months. Your father did not attack then, no one did, and that's when they were most vulnerable. Azula passed and Azulon's grief lasted nearly as long. Still, we did nothing. The Fire Empire thinks we're weak. They think we cower under them. The Southern Water tribe is not weak. We have to take whatever opening we can get, they will not see it coming."

The men hooted in pride and agreement. Tonraq sighed. "Not if that's what they want us do..." Korren spoke before his father could. "Then my father will be responsible for leading you men to your deaths."

Griff scowled at him. "Let men speak Korra!"

Korren huffed, "No-no." Tonraq said. "He's right. What if it is what they want? Will we give it to them? We're risking everyone's lives for war we are unlikely to win. We simply do not have enough trained yet. Who will rally with us when we are out numbered? The Earth benders?" There was moment of laughter that followed, mostly by the younger boys who had just heard the stories of how 'wonderful' and 'strong' earth benders once were. Korren did not laugh. "Fire burns the same whether they grieve or not. An army of just Southerns is not enough. We will not attack them."

"We could always ask the Northerners to lend the men we need. Could we fight against The Fire Empire then?"

The men in the hut scowled at the mention of the North. "No Korren! Your uncle will not help us. Not without a price."

"Well, can't we pay?"

"The Northerners are not like us, Korren. They only care about power and spirits. Your uncle Unalaq will do nothing for this tribe's people. He will offer no help." Korren truly did not understand. They were all apart of the same tribe, just from different sides. How different could they be? "And the North will not welcome a union with them any how. We will do more damage to ourselves as one than to the Fire Empire."

"So what do we do then?"

"We protect our people first. Moment of weakness or not, we will not win an attack against them-"

"But if we did-" Korren insisted.

"Then what? The world will be thrown into yet another chaos. It's best people live and suffer under their order than die by our madness. You learn to worry of your people first. We cannot help everyone else. It's been a while since the Fire Empire has bothered the Water Tribes. We will let them have their moment of silence in peace. We will do nothing."

"And if they come for us, I suppose we will submit then?" Griff said. "It's best to kill the problem before it gets to us. The world ruled itself once. It can do so again. The world doesn't need The Fire Nation to keep order."

"The South does not submit. If they come, we fight, but will not fight against them otherwise."

"But it's the only chance we'll have, when Hiroshi is crowned-"

"We will do nothing. Our people come first. Right now, the North is more of a threat to us than the Fire Benders, we barely have enough men to defend against them. Let us think of that first." Griff and few others grumbled against the chief's ruling before sharing glances. Korren did not know what this would mean for the tribe, but his father was Chief, and if he thought it was the best choice then it probably truly was.

* * *

**Chapter 1- Prince Korren**

Korren never liked those moments before a battle. There was always an eerie _not silent_ sort of silence that lingered about him and his troops. It was always too dark and too still, though they had torches set about them, and the moon would provide enough lighting as well. The wind howled furiously, and the cold bit at his bare cheeks. Sometimes they'd wait for hours before any sign of danger came about, by then his toes would feel like ice themselves, frozen and wet in his boots from standing in the snow so long. If he listened closely, he could hear the sounds of owls hooting in the distance or maybe a the caw of a raven flying up above where the leaves of the trees became too thick to see through.

The fight would be against Northerners, as it always was. They are said to be cowards who hide behind their walls and spirit portal. Tonraq, had lived there once when he was a boy, with his brother who was now the Chief there. He said the Northerners focused more on the spiritual side of bending whereas the Southerners focused on the physical. Man against man, it was never much of a challenge, yet they always came back to start more trouble. Their chief's a relentless man. Whatever he wanted from the south, he would risk all his men to get. Tonraq said it was power and control he wanted since he didn't agree with the way southerner's lived headstrong. He didn't like the name the south was giving to water benders -not that it mattered much. The world divided did not care of other nations were doing. Still, The Northern Chief persisted they change their ways, babbling on about balance, ying and yang, push and pull, spirits...The war began when Southerners refused to live by Northern tradition. That was years ago though, and now the feud threatens to transcend into another generation.

Korren didn't care much about what they wanted from the South. They are wicked people who'd happily slaughter the entire tribe if it meant getting what they want, then they'd talk of peace. As of late, they were becoming bolder and crossing over into southern territory again. "This won't happen when I become Chief." Korren muttered under his breath. "I'll kill Desna with my own hand if it means no more war." Desna was the Northern prince set to be Chief after his father. And by laws of vendetta, Korren's enemy.

"Hush up Korren," Griff said. "Killing Desna would just make it worse."

Korren huffed, "Yeah- yeah, we'll see..."

Suddenly he felt it. A shift in the air. Korren's fists clenched and his stance automatically became defensive. The air around them _whooshed, _and became heavy. In the distance there was a big blue glow approaching. Korren had to squint to make out what it was. As it came nearer, it became clear it wasn't one big glowing blob approaching rapidly towards them, but many, nearly a whole army of them. Large, frightening things. "Spirits..." Korren said.

This was new. It was always men who came to fight in the battles, never spirits. Korren didn't even know of spirits fighting in human feuds. Korren began to bend the water around him as the came closer. Around him, his men began to chant their battle cry. Which was similar to a wolf's howl. Korren tried to chant along, but the fear of what was coming gripped him to tightly for him to find his voice.

The spirits that approached walked on two legs like a man, only hunched over, with all four of their arms dragging in the snow. Their eyes were yellow, and large, talking up most of what should be their face. When they opened their wide mouths to shriek, the had no teeth, but a long tongue that wailed around furiously. There was a strange scent coming from them, like something rotting.

It made Korren dizzy, but he forced himself to hold his ground against them. They clashed finally. Man against spirit. Water against unearthly powers. His tribes men fought just a viciously as they were taught to, but within a few moments, the ground beneath them was slathered with red and twitching bodies that begged for death to take them.

Korren fought hard as well, using only the most deadly of forms he was taught to try and ward them off. They all proved useless. The spirits were simply too big and too powerful. With a swing of their arm, they knocked down most of the men. They charged towards the southern troops, passing through the bodies of unsuspecting men, leaving them looking like half spirit half man and gruesome. They screamed and fell. The pain of the fusion proving too great for them to handle. Korren made a sharp jab at one of the spirit creatures. Hard ice impaled it body, and from the wound yellow goo gushed. It fell twitching, but that was only one, there were still many more hurling towards him.

With a deep breath, Korren stopped bending water and focused on the ground around him. As he willed it, it began to shake. He didn't mean it to disturb what was left of his men as well, but it did and few of them fell over, giving the spirit creatures the upper hand for a moment before they stumbled as well. Korren made a gaping hole in the earth, the heat from lava could be felt from it. Korren wasted no time pushing himself to the limit. He forced as many of them into the hole as possible with the help of his men. One of them shrieked loudest, and soon they all began to retreat. Korren bent the earth shut and watched them run.

Had it been a man, they would run after them, to see to it no one who challenged the southerners survived. But these were not men. So Korren let them go, and prayed it would be long before they returned.

It certainly wasn't a long fight, less than an hour at least, but his muscles were sore, and physically he felt drained, like he would fall over at any moment. Bending earth always did that to him. It was hard and difficult element to control and mold. It was even harder to separate into pieces and it was _so_ heavy. He stumbled a bit as he looked for his father in the mess of blood and men.

Tonraq usually wasn't hard to find, he was a big man, and he always fought with both hands engulfed in ice sharp enough to serve as swords. More than half the troop laid on the floor before him. Most of them would die, Korren already knew, but he would have to find his father before he could worry for them.

The North won this time, and with strange tactics. Just when the Southerns had one upped them...

Korren found his father laying in a pool of blood. His face half his. The other had was blue with a large yellow eye taking up most of it and shaped strangely. Half his mouth was missing teeth. His right arm was not his, instead a long glowing blue limb that had three fingers. Same for his right leg. His chest had a gash that spat yellow mixed with red liquid from his chest.

"He's going to die." Barse said. "No man can survive this." Korren told himself warriors do not cry as he picked up his father and slung him over his back. Tonraq was heavy, and Korren was already feeling weak, but for his father, he would do anything. "What do we do now, _Chief_?" Barse asked.

Korren looked in the direction the spirits ran and shook his head quickly. "There are too many wounded. We protected our people first. The fight is over for tonight. We go back to the tribe and discuss what to do there."

-X-

It wasn't unusual for Korren to come home bloody when he was a boy, but often times, that blood did not belong to him. It belonged to whatever poor soul was brave enough to test his patience. Korren was Tonraq's boy, and his short fuse proved it so. He had a temper and an anger just as nasty as his father's. Also like his father, Korren never backed away from a fight, even when it was evident he'd lose. He held his fists up and took his beating if fate be it so, but never would he walk away without trying. Losing only made him lash out even more, and made his tribe-mates laugh at him harder. He's always had a fierceness in his eyes. His fists would always clench at the first sign of trouble and his anger was unpredictable and sometimes lacking in restraint. But these were all the qualities that he would need to grow into the a man as great as his father. His face was always bruised. He's lips were always torn, and dripping blood. He'd limp back to his home with his clothes torn into shreds, bloody, or simply missing all together. His hair was just as long as the other boys' but would get pulled so often when he fought it became necessary to keep it cut short -too short for a warrior's wolf tail that meant unfortunately, but his father assured him, it's not the tail that makes the warrior, it's how well he fights and protects his tribe men.

Korren fought well, hand to hand or with bending. He needed to if he was going to prove anything to his father and the elders. And also, he was necessary he be able to protect himself, as his mother wasn't always there to break apart his fights. Korren fought and defended even better when it was learned he could will earth the same way his tribes men willed water. And if he tried really hard, the smallest flame would appear in his palm, but fire was even more difficult to control than earth so calling upon that gift was forbidden by his father, not that he cared to much. Fire was destructive like it's nation, and it was weight lifted from his shoulders not have to associate himself with it. They would call him the new Avatar of the new age, if that word meant anything anymore, but it's been nearly a hundred years since the world has seen an Avatar. So, talk of one was instantly knocked off as folly. The word no longer meant anything special. Korren was just strange. Stranger than he was before that is. They way his voice was too high for a boy was strange. The way he was smaller than the other boys his age was strange. They way he changed his name from Korra to Korren was strange. They was he screamed, so high a shrill, when titled incorrectly was strange. Everything about him. Most of the villagers stayed away, though by right, he was their Prince and he should be respected. The boys his age were cunning enough to get away with their faux-ignorance. They there were to bow to Korren, but instead they punched him when they could get away with it, and full on warred with him when there were no adults around to stop it.

By the time Korren was to be considered a man by the laws of nature, he was going off into battle with his father and their troops. He excelled far quickly, and was soon far more advanced than the boys he trained with. He had already graduated to the title 'warrior' and given his wolf's armor when they were in their final year.

That was one thing no one could deny about him- he'd make a strong Chief, perhaps a even stronger one than his father.

Now he's a man. Nearly twenty three in age and he's still coming home covered in blood that wasn't his. It was a two week march back to the tribe. By then Tonraq's heart was barely beating, but Korren refused to bury him along with the others. Not until he was sure he was dead would he bury his father.

He collapsed when they finally made it back. Falling with his father atop him. He heard his mother's scream, and moment later she was by their side, along with other women of the tribe. The weight of his father was off his back in a moment.

"Korren! Korren!" His mother called. Her worried face was the last thing he saw before his vision clouded and he was out.

-X-

"Korren," The voice was soft and tender and loving. "Korren, wake up now. We have a problem. We need you to wake up." Korren responded with a groan. He felt weak, and stiff. His muscles ached as he tried to move them.

"Chief," A different voice called. "You have to get up." Korren's eyes cracked open to Barse. He was in his tent. Back at his home. Laying in his bed. He all seemed so strange at first. A moment ago he was in the woods, fighting against blue monsters that threatened to take his life. Now he was home, sore and dizzy.

His mother was a small lady with a childish face and two long braids going down her shoulder. She was prone to worrying, especially about Korren, since he was such a strange boy. Often she hovered, and tried to protect like a mother does.

"How long have I been asleep?" Korren asked suddenly panicked. He began to sat up, but then he remember Barse was in the room, and his breast wrappings would show if he did, so he stayed down, under the covers.

"Nearly a week. We were beginning to worry we'd lose you too." His mother said, hugging him tightly.

"And father- is he..."

"He's in the healing hut, with the other wounded. Many have already died. They think he's next, but you know him. Always fighting."

Korren frowned then growled, "Then do not call me, Chief!"

"You need to be while he is wounded. Get up, we have a problem." Korren tightened the sheets around his shoulders before he stood. His legs wobbled a bit and his muscles protested but he pushed himself to find a shirt and and pants.

"Hold them off for another minute." Senna said. "We'll be out soon." Barse gave a single nod and left. Korren let his sheet drop and stumbled around his room in search for clothing.

"You can't just put on anything Korren, you have to look like Chief, or at the very least a prince." She protested. She pushed Korren sit down while she searched for a royal blue overcoat for him, and the matching pants. Korren tugged on a plain white shirt underneath and allowed his mother to help him dress. He never liked being naked for long.

"What's wrong? Who's so important I need to dress up-"

"Be respectful Korren." His mother scowled him. "We haven't had a visit like this in a very long time. We can't have them attack us on account of your attitude."

Korren understood without having to be told directly. His mother hated uttering their name. The Fire Empire. It's been over ten years since the fire nation knocked on their door. They only stop by to check up, make sure the water tribe was following the rules. Sometimes they'd take some benders to help serve in the fire nation, other wise that was it. Korren never understood why the didn't stay to control the water tribe like the did in the earth nation, but he liked to joke that fire doesn't like water- or the cold.

This was probably just another check up. And if they showed that they weren't plotting against them, and were loyal to the Fire Lord, they would leave in just a few weeks. And then Korren could meet with the elders to discuss the spirits monsters they encountered. Hopefully, by then the Chief would have healed up nicely.

However, it wasn't just fire nation troops Korren faced with when he emerged from his tent. It was the Fire Lord himself. His entire tribe stood in just a few feet away from his home, frightened and some shaking. Around them stood fire nation guards, dressed in their traditional red and black attire, and masks that made them look face less.

"There he is," A voice called from the crowd of his people. "That's the Chief. That's him!" The Fire Lord wasn't hard to spot. Surrounded by many guards and wearing his hair up in a bun that was tightened with what was his crown, a small ring of metal craved to look like fire and painted red and gold. He dressed in red and gold robes that dragged through the snow as he walked. Fire Lord Hirsohi was a fat man, with a thick mustache and heavy glasses that rested on the tip of his nose. He didn't look like a fearsome Fire Lord at all. More like a fat fool playing pretend. Korren bit back his chuckle. He had an incredibly round face that would an unreadable expression. Korren supposed his face was meant to strike fear into his heart, but instead he just badly wanted to laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Prince Korren." Fire Lord Hiroshi said, when he laid his eyes upon the Southern Prince. Korren bowed best he could, to show his respect, though he believed the Fire Tyrant deserved none. His people's protection meant more than his personal hatred for the man. "You may rise boy," Hiroshi said. "I wanted to meet with your father directly, but I hear he is wounded and will soon no longer be with us." Korren screwed up his face. _Barse! _He refused to believe his father was nearly dead. Tonraq would get better soon. It was a huge sign of disrespect to say otherwise. "Shame, isn't it. No matter, I suppose you will do. You're to be the Chief next right? You're the one I want to discuss." Korren stiffened as the Fire Lord held out a hand towards him. "Well, don't be shy now boy. Shake. I won't burn you." The Fire Lord laughed at his own morbid joke.

Korren clasped hands with his begrudgingly and gave him a stern shake. The Fire Lord held on tightly and pulled him close, placing his other hand on his shoulder. "I've heard very good things about you. So, I've come to make you an offer. Join me, won't you?" Senna held on tightly to her son's arm as The Fire Lord began to pull him away.

"No!" She cried. "You bring him back!"

Hiroshi laughed as one of his men pried Senna off Korren and slapped her in the face. "Women," He said as Korren watched in horror. "So protective and foolish." Then he turned to Senna and said, "This business is between men. You'd do well to say out."

-X-

Prince Korren hoped to never have to see the inside of a fire nation ship, but here he was. Sitting in a hunk of metal and coal, with The Fire Lord sitting across from him with a strange smile plastered across his face. It was very dark, as the only source of light came from a fire burning in the corner. Beside it sat a young woman, dressed in nothing but a robe. She sat with her legs crossed and her hands clutching tightly to the small piece of fabric covering her. Her face was overcast by her hair.

Korren was sure this was all a dream. He must have hit his head harder than he thought. The smell of the tea being poured for him was strong enough to burn his nose. Still, he picked it up and took a sip. It was bitter.

Fire Lord Hiroshi's smile turned into a laugh as Korren made a face at it. "Don't like Fire Nation tea much?"

Korren shrugged, "It's bitter." Hirsoshi nodded. "I'm sure you didn't come to ask me about your tea making skills so..." The girl by the fire let out a snort like chuckle and shook her head.

Hiroshi scowled out her, and then ordered his guards to leave. Strange. He would leave himself mostly unprotected with the Prince of the South. "Do you know you are breaking our laws Korren? By titling yourself a prince you are proclaiming royalty, which is illegal and punishable by death."

"My dynasty has been around longer than your laws."

"Ah, yes. I've heard about the Water Tribe's many Chiefs. I know all of them. Even the ones that existed before you split into two groups."

"Enjoy Water Tribe history much, Fire Lord?" Korren asked. The Fire Lord nodded.

"Oh, yes. It's fascinating. Such a strong people. Always held your own. It would be a real shame if something were to happen to that tradition."

Korren grumbled at the threat and lifted the bitter tea to his lips once more for another sip to keep himself from crossing any lines with the him.

"So you're here to punish me?"

"Punish?" Hiroshi laughed. "No no. I did say I have an offer for you didn't I?"

"Why would you want to offer me anything?"

"Because I admire strength. And ambition. From what I've heard you have both. You're more famous than you know. Stories for your strength traveled all the way to the fire nation." Korren stiffened, and rubbed his chest where his breasts where safely hidden way. His heart thudded away in his chest.

"Stories like..."

"Like how you could take down a whole Northern army if you wished. Like how you are the strongest in your tribe. Like how your enemies shiver at your name. _Korren. _It means _gleaming_ you know and you certainly are."

Korren relaxed a bit in his seat. Slowly, he forced himself to chuckle along with the Fire Lord. "Those are just myths. I believe my strengths have been exaggerated as they were passed about."

"I don't think so, Korren." A moment of silence passed between them. Korren found his eyes shifting back to the young lady who sat by the fire. Her hair just as black as night and her legs pale as snow...Why the hell was she just sitting there?

"I can make you a Prince you know." Hiroshi said suddenly, pulling Korren from his thoughts.

"I am a Prince." Korren argued.

"A real Prince," Hiroshi corrected. "By law, a real Prince. A Prince of the fire nation. Worshiped, loved, next in line for the throne. I have not bared myself any boys. I only have one. A girl. Useless thing she is. She can't even bend."

"I've heard of your daughter. Forgive me, I'm not good with foreign names. What is she called again?"

"Asami," Hiroshi said. "Would you like to marry her, Korren? It would be her honor and mine. A strong water tribe boy and the honored fire nation princess. It would be a match unlike any other."

Korren nearly choked on air. His face went red. "Marry? What- no- I mean - I...No!"

"I know it's sudden, but the water tribes are strong and so is the fire nation. A union by marriage would make us unlike any other."

"No!"

"I would think before you refuse, Boy!" Hiroshi growled. "How old are you? Twenty two? And you're not married. I'd say yes if I were you, otherwise, I can't promise you you'll walk out of here with a head. You've broken the law, and so has your tribe by acknowledging you as a prince. That's an act of treason I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. To save your people, you wouldn't be so selfish to let them die now would you?"

Korren was quiet. _Protect your people first, _he was taught. But is a marriage between him and the tyrant's daughter going to protect them? Or only hurt them more? Besides, he was lacking certain parts he would need to make the marriage legal. How do you tell the Fire Lord no and still protect your people?

"I need to talk with the elders." He said rising.

"_Sit down!" _Hiroshi snapped. Korren slowly sank back into his seat. "This is your choice Korren. Not your elders. Perhaps you need to see her first? That's fair isn't it? I wouldn't force you to marry an ugly girl. Asami, come here!"

The girl sitting in the corner rose at the command, and strutted over to her father. _Asami. _

"The _prince_ is having some trouble deciding. Show him your body." The Princess couldn't have been any older than sixteen, seventeen maybe. Her face was still young and her golden eyes still held some innocence. She dropped her robe, revealing her body to Prince Korren, who's dark face was hot like fire by now. She was beautiful of course. Her breast not too large or too small, her nipples pink and perky. Her stomach flat and unmarked. Even the curls between her thighs were gorgeous.

She fiddled with her hands nervously as Korren's gaze traveled about her. "Well," Hiroshi asked, pushing his daughter onto Korren's lap. She fell right into him with a whimper. "Perhaps you need more convincing. Shall I hang your mother instead, or maybe those elders you love so much?"

"No!" Korren gaped. "No, I-I'll...I'll have to talk with the elders first, it's-."

"Father-" Asami whimpered. "Let him. It's his tradition."

Hiroshi growled. "And it's my tradition not to be left waiting. What is your answer Korren? I do not take disrespect lightly." Hiroshi created a small flame in the middle of his hands. _Protect your people first._

"Okay," Korren said hastily. "I'll marry her. Just do not hurt my people." The flame was gone in that instant. Hiroshi's strange smile returned.

"Good then. Asami be grateful, someone wants to marry you." Asami's golden eyes were sad in Korren's lap. She nodded and thanked him dutifully. Korren nodded, and carefully rose, setting the naked princess on her feet.

"You'll be married tomorrow night. The sooner, the better."

-X-

Senna wrapped her arms around her boy in a tight hug the moment he was free of those fire nation scums. "Oh, I was so worried. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Korren shook his head, and pulled away to wipe tears from his mother's eyes. "Are they leaving soon? You still haven't said anything to the elders about what happened. What if the Northerners attack while they are here?"

"I don't think they're leaving, Mom." Korren said. "We have to worry about the North later. "

A shiver of fear ran down Senna's spine. "What-"

"Tell the other women to help you plan for a wedding. I have to go talk to the elders."

Senna stood there shell shocked for a long moment before she understood and once she did, she fell down to her knees in teary sobs. Korren wanted to get down there and cry with her, but he was a warrior, and warriors do not cry.

"We'll have this conversation later..." Korren said, walking away. "Just- start preparation."

-X-

"Don't you think you should know her a little bit first?" Tomare asked once the news was revealed to the few men who resided in the council hut to talk about the arrival of the Fire Nation. There was a long moment of confused silence. Then Tomare was the first to speak.

Griff grunted, "Know her? The fuck does he need to know the bitch for? I didn't know my first wife when we got married."

"Yes, but you married a water tribe girl. The tribe raised her, you knew her intentions before you married her. What does Korren know of this girl's intentions?"

"What could she possibly want? You didn't see her. She's quiet, dutiful, timid. It's her father that wants something." Korren frowned, and leaned back in his seat.

Carswell was one of the eldest elders in the room. He held a shaky finger up in the air and proclaim, "Power. We are strong. The Fire Nation are afraid. They will burn us from the inside."

"Mmm, or maybe they just their name merged with ours. More territory, more men for the army, more power. I don't think they want to destroy us. Hiroshi likes water tribe tales."

"Which is why he would be eager to kill us, the Fire Lord who brought the great water tribe to an end. He'd be a legend rather than just another fire lord after Azula. They might even title him the new Phoenix King."

"He also said he needs a boy in his bloodline."

"You are not a boy Korren," Griff said. "Not even if you call yourself one."

"What are you going to do when you marry her? Then apologize? They'll kill us all for sure." Barse said.

Korren sighed and buried his head in his hands. His father would know what to do. " Not physically, no. I do not have the parts. I'm something though." He said using what little strength he had to shift the earth under Griff's feet causing him to stumble. "Maybe when she learns of what I am, she will want to keep me."

"And what are you Korren? Other than fucking weird?" Barse chuckled.

"The avatar?" Griff laughed. "Impossible. Those things don't exist anymore."

"I'm something..." Korren mumbled. "Whatever it is, maybe she'll think it's special and spare us."

"So you plan to tell them then?" Carswell asked. "That you are just a strange girl is boys clothing."

Korren huffed. He did not like being called a girl. "Not until I absolutely have to. Until then, I'll just marry her..."

"And pray the spirits give you a dick to fuck her with..." Griff said then he fell on his ass as Korren lifted the earth under his feet and slammed it back down.

* * *

**Okay. End Chapter 1. **

**What do you guys think of this? **

**If you want more to this story, I'm going to need comments. So please, please do so. I worked really long and hard on this. **

**Also if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. **

**Till next time **

***Flies away* **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- The Strength of the Tribe **

The Northern Prince was said to be a boy of just thirteen. Newly a man and, like his opponent, already passed mastery in all the arts of water-bending. The tales of him said he was to be just as his father in everything he was. Not tall in height, long in the face, piercingly strong blue eyes, lean and strong. The type of person who didn't quite prefer the company of others, but diligent nonetheless. Being that they compare him so much to their Chief, it was often speculated that the spirits must have favored him as well. Tonraq told his tribe tales of how his brother obsessively did nothing but pray at the Northern spirit portal for weeks at a time. So much so, that soon he was accompanied by them when he returned to his home. Supposedly, it wasn't strange to have spirits linger around homes in the north. When the Northern Chief was granted his son, he took the boy there, bathed him in prayer and proclaimed him The Spirit Prince. With a father so spiritual, and having that he has accomplished much at his young age, it seemed very likely that the spirits would favor him as well- if not, worship him. It was even rumored that he was to be married before his next birthday approached. A colorful wedding was to take place in the spirit world, an honor _only_ meant for him. If he was lucky he'd be a father before the year end as well.

Korren had no time for rumors. Especially not Northern rumors. His people had their faults, he wasn't naive enough to deny that. One, the most annoying of them, was their constant need to gossip and spread untruths. If this boy, this Northern Prince, was to be anything like it was said, then Korren would gladly look forward to a fight against him, more so if that fight meant the end of their war. After all, before long they would find themselves head to head as rivaling Chief's anyhow. But when challenged the Prince sent back a reply denying Korren the pleasure. Korren laughed as he read it, then he burnt it, proclaiming the Northern Prince a coward like his people.

It was a joke meant to mock the boy of course, and everyone did laugh along as Korren said it and continued to spit on his name. Today, however, there was no laughter. The households and their successors that resided to council huts for a meeting were still and quieter than Korren has ever witnessed them be without his father present to command it.

A deep red dotted pure white and light blue as the sun began it's descent. Work for the day was decidedly ended early by Korren and the Elders of the tribe. With the arrival of the Fire Nation, everyone was anxious. Even more so now that Korren's engagement with them had spread like wildfire throughout the streets. There was just something that felt right about sending everyone home early. No good work would be accomplished if they all felt frightened and confused and allowed their minds to linger on what might happen to them. Homes were like a sanctuary. The Fire Nation couldn't kill them for disobedience if they were all in their safe place. The women and children hurried home, while the men took a seat in the council hut and gazed upon Korren to provide some sort of an explanation.

"They didn't go North..." Korren muttered. "They came here...I suppose the Coward Prince didn't meet their standards." No one stirred. The faces held fretful expressions Korren couldn't relieve.

His father was still said to be ill and slowly dying away in the healing huts. The day had passed in such a flash that Korren had found no time to go see him. Regardless, the Chief's duties now, without need of initiation, fell upon his shoulders and would be a such until his father could rise from his was weak state to properly lead the tribe.

Guilt welled up in his chest quickly. The decision was already made, and without any counsel. If this union is the downfall of the South, if not the entire Water Tribe, then it would all fall on Korren's shoulders. However, it was too late to change. The Fire Lord was unlikely to welcome any altercations with what was already set and it was safer for everyone if Korren did as he asked to and refrained from making the Fire Lord angry.

"It's a true wonder why they didn't ask Densa." Griff said, breaking the silence with his voice that was so much deeper than Korren's. For once, he spoke with no malice or anger. Just pure, rightly placed curiosity. "Could it be because they know he's already to be married? Nah- I don't think Hiroshi cares about his betrothed. Maybe it's because they just know the South is stronger." Griff chuckled at his own little line that mocked the North.

"Spirits would have been a greater ally than men." Tomare said. "Densa is as much a Prince as Korren. If not, more so. And the Northerners are known to be affiliated with spirits. Why not ask Densa to marry their little Princess instead?...If it's truly strength they seek? Wouldn't the odds be better for him if had spirits on his side as well? Think of the amount of glory he would receive by bringing the spirit world and the entire physical one together again. Yet, he comes here instead..."

The question lingered in the air for a long while without answer. Finally, Korren said, "I don't think there are stories of Densa in the Fire Nation...He spoke as though he knew me well. With confidence, you know? He certainly knew how to pawn me."

"Oh, please! Everyone knows how to pawn a Southern. Naked women, talk of killing whole tribes...it isn't necessarily a hard thing to do. You just played into his little game. You made it to easy." Griff scoffed. "Where's Tonraq when you need him? Tonraq woudn't have let happen. You're a mockery of your father!"

Riled off of Griff's words, the council hut began to stir and grumble in agreement. "Would you have taken a Fire Nation threat lightly Griff? Yes? If that's the case, then why don't you go negotiate with the Tyrant?" Griff bared his teeth at Korren. "I will hear no more of this. My loyalty stands with my tribe. I did what I needed to do to make sure we all survive this."

"Desna would have gladly let his people burn." Carswell added quietly. "He wouldn't have done what Korren did. Here it is: Protect the People. There is it is: Protect the Spirits."

"You should have asked your tribe first! It is our lives that will suffer the union, not just yours." A voice yelled from the crowd.

"His loyalty wavers." Another said.

"I'd sooner take my boy North than welcome the Fire Nation into my home."

Korren growled. "And I'd sooner dig your grave before I let you." Murmurs came from about. Worried little chatter and theories. If there's one thing they agreed on, it was that there was more to this that it seemed.

"Hiroshi wouldn't burn what he oh-so-admires." Griff continued. "If his admiration was true then his threat was empty."

"Korren wants us to die!" The voices accused.

Korren sighed and sat back down in the head seat. He was truly at a loss. His father would have known what to do, however he was not his father and, as much as he wished for it, he could not think as he did. Korren was blind where his father could see clearly. If this was truly the right thing to do, he was unsure.

"I did what I thought was right. I'm sorry there was no time to counsel the decision before it was made. Why can't you see that I'm trying to keep you all safe, even if it is only for a generation. I will do what I must so my people will not burn. They would have killed us if I refused."

"We should fight." Tomare suddenly declared. He stood up and slammed his hand on the table. "We should fight for our freedom. I will not bow to the Fire Nation."

"We will die if we fight. There's not enough of us to fight them and the North." Korren groaned. "And do not speak as such, they are literally right outside. What will happen if they decide we are not loyal?"

"Who cares? We're dead anyways." Tomare shrugged. "You do realize you will be considered Fire Nation when you wed right?"

Korren's face heated a bit at the thought of him dressed in red and gold, or red and black. "I'm-"

"I will not bow to the fire nation, Korren. I think you'll find that many households agree with me." Tomare's words caused a ruckus and soon they were just as loud as they usually were.

"Fix this!"

"Tell the Fire Lord the deal is off!"

"The South does not bow!"

"We. Will. Burn." Korren said slowly. "What part of 'we cannot fight the Fire Nation' do you not understand? We cannot waste our time quarreling over this. The decision is final."

Griff huffed, "So you want to fuck her then? Is that? Was she really_ that_ pretty? Or was it just your first time seeing a girl other than yourself? Tonraq would do whats best for us. He wouldn't throw our independence away so freely."

"They offered us a union rather than dissemble us. Need I remind you of the Earth Benders? Or worst, the Air Benders. Look at what has become of them-"

"It is what will become of us. I didn't want to stand with you when you were a child, I do not want to stand with you now. Fix then, or our blood will be on your hands."

"What happened to not submitting?"

"This isn't submission. It's doing what best. We can't quarrel like this all night. The winter is getting worse by the day. We need to send men off to hunt, and we also need troops positioned in the Northern Woods, in case of another attack. With the North becoming so bold, the tribe is at more risk than ever."

"What's the point?" Griff rose, ready to leave the hut and return to his home as well. "The Fire Nation is here, there is no more Southern Water Tribe to protect! I won't fight pointlessly."

-X-

The next morning came inevitably. Korren found himself awake just at the sky was orange with the new sun rising. Sleep was difficult to find the night before, and the day would hold much more trepidation than previous. Too much needed to be done and there was too little time. Not to mention, his tribesmen were losing faith in him and the survival of the tribe. If it kept on this way, Korren feared he would no longer have a tribe to fight for.

Before long, Korren once again found himself in the black metal ship that belonged to Hiroshi Sato. He sat at the same round table he had been placed at the day before, though this time, it was his betrothed, Asami, who sat across from him.

She wore nothing but a silk red night dress that was so long, it pooled like blood at her feet. Her hair was a bit disheveled, but pulled back into a high pony tail. She got out of bed to greet and keep Korren company when he arrived.

It was awkward. A still silence passed between them with both unsure of how to start conversation. There wasn't much words Korren had to offer her, and in return there wasn't much she had to offer him.

She had smiled and blushed when he took her hand and politely placed a kiss aback it as a 'Good Morning'. That smile still lingered on her lips, but it was her gaze that captivated Korren. Innocent, filled with childish curiosity and tenderness. Golden eyes gleamed in the blazing fire that provided them with light. They wandered about, somewhat shyly over what was to be hers. Suddenly she looked a lot younger than she did before. No longer barely sixteen/seventeen. Now she was as small and frail looking as a child sitting before him.

"I do apologize for the delay," She spoke suddenly and with tentative anxiousness. "My father usually spends the mornings with his women. He doesn't like to be disturbed, but for you, I'm sure he's hurrying to finish."

Korren grimaced, "Understandable I suppose. Does he have many women?"

Asami shrugged, her blush deepening some. "I wouldn't know..." Korren thought the silence between them would resume as it had before, but instead she continued, "May I ask what brings you here so early anyhow?"

Korren considered confiding in her for a moment. After all, she was a women, and this was business meant for men. What opinion could she have on this matter? Still, it really didn't matter much and it seemed as though they would be sitting for a while. "My tribe is having some disagreements with our arrangements. I've come to sort it out before something regrettable happens."

Asami looked thoughtful for a long moment then out of no where said, "Do you know it is bad luck to see a bride before her wedding?"

Korren raised an eyebrow then chuckled. Of course, women were bound not to understand the seriousness of the situation. "Um...Isn't that just if she's in the dress? Isn't it meant to be sacred or something?"

"I don't think so, Korren."

"Well, regardless, my luck seems to be running short."

"Shame. Should this union not happen, my father's ego would be crushed. It sort of depends on this marriage, you see. He boasted about you all last night." Asami did not look as though she would be sad for her father though. The lingering smile on her lips became bigger. "Yes, it would be crushed. He wants me to bare you as many sons as I can. He wants you and your boys to sit on the throne. He wants you to wear his crown then pass it down as it was passed down to him. He wants you to be his little glory."

Korren snickered, "Sons?"

"If that's what The Southern Prince wants, then yes, sons." A laugh escaped Korren as he thought of Asami being pregnant with his child.

"Perhaps..." He answered, pretending arrogance.

A playful frown fit Asami's face as she pouted. "Do you doubt my capability?"

"How old are you?"

"Nearly sixteen. Why? Will it make a difference?"

"Yes, you're still young. You needn't think of baring my sons. Needless to say, I won't lay with a child."

"I've bled!" Asami exclaimed. Then she became as red as her dress, realizing what she said. "I mean..."

"I understand. Still, you're a child."

Asami scoff. "Your tradition says you are a man at thirteen, right?"

"Correct."

"That's not fair."

"If you were grown, you'd know that life isn't fair."

"I know that! I'll bare you on the first try, you'll see."

"I will..." Then Korren laughed again. "Determination is a good thing to have, I suppose."

"Asami," Hiroshi interrupted Korren's laughter. Asami's playful smile was gone in that instant and replaced with the grim look he had seen the day before. "I do hope you weren't bothering the Prince-to-be. You wouldn't want to be the reason he changes his mind, now would you?"

Asami shook her head and stood to bow to her father. Hiroshi placed a heavy hand on Korren's shoulder and gave his daughter a scowl. "Forgive her, Boy. You know how women are. They talk and talk and talk until they forget the place. Once she's yours, you find whatever punishment for her you deem worthy."

Asami's face darkened. She said a polite and small goodbye to Korren before leaving the room. "I don't think that will be necessary. She was keeping my company. You've raised a good girl."

Hiroshi made a face as though he was disgusted and sat where Asami had. "Alright. You've summoned my presence. Usually, I only meet with people on my own time, but my future Son, I suppose this is acceptable. What do you want?"

"It's actually about the union-" Hiroshi's growled.

"I do certainly hope you aren't planning to withdraw. It would be a shame. The Fire Nation looks forward to this union. It would be such a shame to punish this tribe instead."

Korren felt his heart leap in his chest. "My tribe isn't happy with this."

"As expected. Strength tends to give off fear upon the weaker. The Fire Empire is very strong wouldn't you agree? As their...erm...Prince- oh, or are you a Chief now? Never mind it! As their leader in the making, it is your duty to inform them they have nothing to fear. It will be like almost nothing changed. It's just that you will wear a crown of the Fire Nation while dressed in Water Tribe clothing. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"They fear the loss of tradition." Korren phrased it, as careful not to offend the Fire Lord. "Forgive us, we are a strong willed people. They think my loyalty wavers. If it comes down to a battle of loyalty, you must know I share no blood with you. I will not stand behind you."

Hiroshi laughed. The fat surrounding his neck jiggled some, and his cheeks became a bit redder. "Korren, how backwards you have it. Once you marry Asami, there will be no need to think of us as two separate beings. Just two parts to the same whole. We will exist together as one. You don't need to pick sides."

"I don't think my people see it as such. What I say, is we wait a bit longer. There is no need to rush into a marriage. Asami will still be here in a year or so, and so will I. My people need time to accept this."

Hiroshi stood and growled. The fire burning in the corner blazed. "I do not like to be kept waiting Korren. Wait your year if that's what pleases you but I cannot promise there will be anyone here left for you to protect by then. I warned you yesterday. I will not do it again."

Griff's words suddenly rang in Korren's ears. His threats are empty. He likes Water Tribe tradition. He wouldn't just get rid of it. Unless of course, he was lying about that...

Korren found it hard to call the Fire Lord a bluff. There was no denying how serious he seemed.

Fire danced before Korren's eyes, and heated his face until droplets of sweat appeared. He tried his hardest to believe the Fire Lord was only toying with him. Yet, it didn't make any sense as to why...

He rose from his seat with grace and bowed, "I will give you the day to consider it. I'll be back at sun set. Enjoy your day, Fire Lord."

-X-

Korren received a hard hug from his mother when he returned home. It was the type of hug that wasn't meant to be a hug. It was meant to be a slap, but since she could not hit him without being punished for it herself, she settled for squeezing the life from him. She was standing in the middle of his home with tears in her eyes and a piece of his clothing locked tightly in her hands when he walked in. "Where were you? I asked everywhere!" She cried and wrapped her arms around him and began the squeezing.

"I had business to discuss. I apologize if I made you worry."

"Oh," She swatted his arm. "You always make me worry! You look pale. They didn't hurt you did they?" She grabbed his chin, and began to examine him the way a mother does. Korren shook her off.

"No-No. I'm fine. Why do you always think I'm hurt?"

Senna pouted. "I heard Griff talking about skinning you alive. I swear if I could beat the living lights from that man-"

Korren laughed and pulled his mother in for the hug she needed. "Griff has been saying that since I was little. Why do you still give into him?"

Senna shrugged sniffed into her son. "Because he is so much bigger than you are."

"Strength isn't always about how big you are..."

"I suppose it went badly then? The council meeting I mean. Did they-"

"No one welcomed the idea. I didn't expect them too. No matter though, I spoke with Hiroshi. I'm not sure if he'll consider a change in plans but I asked him to. I'll return at night fall for the response."

Senna shivered. "Oh. Your father wouldn't like this." Korren grimaced. He almost forgot to ask about his father. With so much going on, it seemed to fall in the cracks.

He sat his mother down on his small couch. His home was a few short of a large tent. He didn't have much, mainly because he wasn't as keen on moving from his parent's home as his father was. Yet, he supposed he had enough to support a wife should he need to. It was a strange thought that he shook from his head.

With a deep sigh he asked of his father's condition. Senna groaned, more tears pouring from her eyes. This time for her husband. She hadn't been crying long, but already her eyes were becoming red. She sniffled, and buried her head in her hands saying a silent prayer for Tonraq."It seems the North has won. Can you believe that Korren? Imagine how proud Unalaq must feel..."

An anger sparked inside Korren. He wrapped his arms tightly around his mother and held her tight in his arms. He had yet to go see his father, so it was only up to his imagine what he must look like. The only image of him that could come to mind was one of him cold, pale and laying in a wooden coffin.

"They win with strange tactics..." Senna nodded her agreements.

"Maybe the South needs strange tactics of their own?" A devious smile formed on Korren's lips as he thought of leading his men through a siege of north.

"Perhaps..." Their moment was cut short when Griff entered his home without first making himself known.

His breath was heavy and his face dark. He frowned and then violently pulled Korren from his mother's arms and shoved him outside into the snow where there was an unusual amount of commotion taking place. "Hey, _Chief, _The healing and council huts have burned."

Suddenly Korren knew the answer to his proposal without question.

No.

* * *

**Well...The ending was a bit rocky so I apologize for that. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope it hasn't disappointed anyone. Especially since so many people enjoyed the first chapter. I received so many great reviews and I'm so happy. I hope I get just as many this time *Pretty please?* **

**I took a very long time to write this I know, I'm sorry. But it's the end of the school year so, I'll be free to write all day soon enough. **

**If you want more, please let me know. **

**Till next time **

***Flies away* **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Her betrothal **

_"If it comes down to a battle of loyalty, I will not stand behind you."_ Hiroshi mocked the Prince's words with a deep and bellowing laugh. The Prince did not seem to find it funny. His eyes were set on Asami where she stood in her place, at the furthest corner away from him. Golden eyes were sad, almost regretful as she stared back. It would be only guilt and courtesy to apologize to him, for all the trouble her father seemed to have caused in their small time in the tribe, but it was not Asami's place to offer him such words and nor did it seem like the right time.

Her father was laughing at him and the more he did so, the darker the Prince's eyes became. She worried quietly in her corner. Southerners were said to have a temper. A temper like the savages and scoundrels they were. It was a running joke in the fire nation, but Asami could not say for sure if it were only rumor or people making slight of the encounters they had with the southern water tribe. Either way, Asami couldn't doubt they were vicious.

Her betrothed, Prince Korren was dragged in by at least five of her father's guards, two of which were bloody and struggling to keep a hold on him. He was forced on his knees in front of the Fire Lord and his daughter. Apparently Korren had managed to kill ten fire guards and injure an uncertain number of them. If he did it by himself or not, Asami wasn't sure. He didn't seem to have been drawn from a brawl though. His hair was a bit disheveled on his head, and his clothes as well, but otherwise, there wasn't a mark on his handsome face to say his was hurt or fighting.

Hiroshi's laugh like thunder drew Asami's gaze from the prince and to her father where he stood. Behind him, the fire blazed hot. Yet, Korren showed no signs of intimidation. He even seemed to growl at the Fire Lord.

"I was warned!" He laughed. "Oh my! I certainly was. _A battle of loyalty. _Haha!" Korren's gaze shifted back to Asami, who could not say anything to defend him. She shifted in her place, wanting to suddenly be invisible so she could shield herself from his gaze. The guilt was beginning to well in her stomach. It was all she could do not to begin bawling where she stood.

The decision to burn the tribe was made out of pure anger, Asami knew. It would have ended the moment her father decided he was no longer angry with Korren for whatever disrespect he felt was thrust upon him. Yet, that could have been days. Who was to say the Prince and his tribe wouldn't have burned by then?

Korren, that's who. The Fire Lord was given a brief intel of how he fought. Korren was loyal if anything. Asami learned that about him quickly. He would die before he let his tribe burn.

"Wasn't I warned, Asami?" Hiroshi threw a glance at his daughter who jumped at the sound of her name.

Tentatively she nodded, "Y-yes, you were…"

"Ha! Haha! A fine husband he will make, will he not?" Asami shivered but nodded just the same.

"Yes,"

Hiroshi turned back to Korren and without warning he raised his boot into the air and kicked it back down. Korren was too prideful to make a sound, but his nose bled onto his coat.

Asami reached for her handkerchief, which was hidden away in her breast quickly before she stopped herself. Her favor should stand with her father. After all, the prince was not her husband as of yet.

"What makes you think you have any right to attack my men? I do certainly hope this isn't the way you treat family."

Korren made a face like disgust, "You are of no blood of mine."

Hiroshi laughed. Korren received another hard kick to face, this time he doubled over. His mouth was bloody now as well. Asami cringed. "I wouldn't speak as such in my presence Korren. I was kind to offer you my daughter as a symbol of our _friendly _union. And in return you kill and injure my men. It would be a shame take back Asami and offer you death instead."

Korren groaned, "You tried to burn my home!"

"It was a lesson learned, wasn't it? You told me your loyalty stands with your blood and I told you I do not like to be kept waiting. We both learned something here today." Korren agreed with a nod of his head. "Now, I need an answer. The Fire Nation cannot trust you by yourself, so this union will happen one way or another. You can share my blood or you can die by it. It's your choice of course."

Korren frowned, "Trust?"

Trust. Asami remembered that word being thrown around by her father and his men during his dinner discussions. From the Fire Nation's point of view, everyone is an enemy until they proved their loyalty. Isolated, the Water Tribes could not do as such. And without the watchful eye of the Fire nation there was no telling what might happen in the coming years. Trust. There was none of it between fire and water.

"My people are likely to kill her before she can lay with me. You think they will want her here?" Korren spat blood at Hiroshi's feet. "After what you've done, you'll be lucky if you live to see tomorrow's sun."

"That is why you are their _Prince _Korren. You must guide them down the right path. The decision to live is yours to make, not theirs. Aren't you supposed to be their leader? The King doesn't listen to the subject. As a man, you should know that."

Korren let out a laugh that frightened Asami more than her father's. It wasn't exactly as deep or as throaty as her father's laugh, but it was full of confidence and bravery. She knew what her father's laugh meant, but nothing of this one.

"They will suffer if my choice is wrong."

"Wrong? Is a marriage worse than death?"

"Death is mercy compared to suffering."

"So, your answer is death?" Hiroshi quipped back quickly. Korren cringed. His blue eyes met Asami's golden ones for a long moment. Again, Asami worried. Blue eyes seemed angry as they stared back at her.

"My people will want revenge. The better question here is, do _you_ think this is a good idea?" His words were harshened by his tone. The Fire Lord seemed not to care.

With a shrug of his shoulders he said, "Asami will be yours once the marriage is finalized. What happens to her then is your concern."

-X-

Korren's mother gave Asami was nasty look before drawing her son away to wipe the blood that was drying on his face away. Asami blushed a deep shade of red before she put her fist to palm and bowed nervously.

Senna only looked away, pulling her son in for a closer inspection. "What did they do to you? Hmm?" She had tears in her eyes that Korren gently wiped away before reassuring her he was fine.

"There are more important things to worry about than a few bruises." He untangled himself from his mother's grip and sat down on a pale brown sofa against the wall of his small home. With a sigh and a worried look he asked, " How many do we have dead?"

Senna huffed and looked at Asami scornfully. Asami was dressed in all red and gold. Even her eyes matched. Everything about her screamed fire nation making Senna's blood boil. "I know of three." She said heavily, as though to let Asami know it was all her fault. "We'll have to send someone to the oasis to collect more healing waters, or else we'll have more. We can't go without."

Korren let out a heavy sigh. "Winter will get worse soon. I don't believe I can send any men out and have them return before the worst of it sets upon us."

"You'll have to try. We'll have to rebuild by then. Speak to the council as their Chief. They will listen now especially." Korren made a face, but before their small Mother-Son conversation could continue, Asami's presence was noted by Senna again. Senna's mean gaze landed on her again.

"And what is this? A gift?" Korren shook his head.

"A wife more like. Find a dress that will fit her, she isn't to walk around in red."

Senna's scolded him. "She shouldn't be here. Do you believe now is the time for a marriage?"

"Our tribe nearly burned down the last time I asked Hiroshi to wait. It doesn't matter if it's the right time or not. There will be a marriage to save our lives. A small one at the very least. I've already spoken to the council about this. We cannot fight the Fire Empire."

Senna huffed. "They will label you a traitor for this. They will not follow a chief dressed in red."

"They will follow Tonraq's boy." Korren said as matter-of-fact. "Or else I will leave their treason to the hands of Hiroshi. If they disobey me after I've warned them then there is nothing I can do until I find away to fight and win against the fire empire."

Senna huffed again. Screwing up her face she said, "Tonraq's _boy. _Huh. And how will _he_ find a way to take care of the fire princess and his tribe? What will _he_ do if they threaten to kill her?" Senna grabbed a hold of Asami's hand and waved it in Korren's face dramatically, making him laugh and Asami cringe.

"Mother, You're being passive."

"I'm being serious! How will you stop an angry tribe should they demand her life? You will be her husband after all."

"And she will be the daughter you lost." Korren stood. "I trust you to teach and protect her while I cannot..."

Senna laughed and looked at Asami, who stood frightened. "You wouldn't-"

"I know you won't kill her. No, my mother is too kind hearted for such deeds. I'm begging you. I can imagine she would serve more purpose to you and the other women rather than me. I have Hiroshi and a tribe to please. You'll have a daughter."

Senna glared. "She cannot replace my child. And the other women will quarrel with her. Honestly, Korren, What are you thinking?"

Korren sighed. "If marrying her will protect my family then I will. It's a small price to pay."

"You believe marriage is all there is to it?" Korren glanced at Asami and shrugged his shoulders.

"We have nothing else to offer Hiroshi, what more could he want? Please, I ask you take care of her. I'll go help clean up outside and prepare for a meeting with the council."

Senna could say no more before Korren was gone. Asami felt her heart become heavy in her chest. Senna was quiet for a long moment after Korren left.

She spent it frowning and examining Asami. Long black hair cascaded down to her waist. She was pale, and had deep golden eyes. She was rather slender and exceptionally beautiful yet all that filled Senna's small face was disapproval.

"Take your dress off." She said bitterly, then disappeared into another room. Asami shook.

Finally alone, she couldn't help the tears that threaten to fall. She shrugged off her coat first, letting it fall lazily onto the floor. The first thing she felt without it was cold, then a sharp pang in her chest as tears began to leave her eyes.

She tore the fabric of her dress angrily than undo the ties and threw the material down.

She hated this.

All of it.

Who would want to be stuck in a place where people want to nothing more than to kill you. She wanted to go home with her father. Feel the warmth of her bed and the safe love of her own mother.

She was shivering both from tears and the coldness of the air when senna returned with a thick dress in hand for her. As quickly as she wiped away her tears more came.

"I-I'm sorry." She sobbed out. "This isn't what I wanted-"

"Hush." Senna said. "If Korren says this is the right thing, then I trust him. It's no use to cry over it. You're not the one who will suffer, no matter how nonchalant Korren seems about you."

Senna handed Asami the dress without much more thought of her tears. "Put it on." she commanded.

Asami did. It was a long dark blue dress, with warm fur on the inside. She put it on choice-lessly. After all, she was to be part water tribe now.

-X-

The day passed on without any more words shared between Asami and Senna. Ever so often the water tribe woman would send hateful glances her way, but nothing more. Asami mindfully attempted to stay out of her way. She sat and watched as Senna thoughtlessly began to clean around her son's home and then began dinner for him. Asami couldn't help but think how one day she would be in Senna's place. It was the life laid out for her and there was nothing she could do to stop that.

Now and then someone would peek inside the home to say hello to Senna or to ask for Korren, but they all stopped and paused when they were met with Asami's face. Asami stood and bowed every time. Still, she was given a frown or a scowl or even a cuss word. Then she'd lower back into her seat as Senna begged their pardon and provided them with the information they needed before sending them off.

Senna would frown at her before returning back to her work.

It was long into the night before Korren finally returned home. Asami's tension became worse then, though, she should have been happy not to have to be alone with his mother any longer.

Korren looked upset and he opened his coat and threw it down. Then he looked even worse when his gaze settled on Asami. With a sigh he sat beside her. "The council seems more accepting of this idea. Griff's running a bet on how well of a wife you'll make, but my mother's guidance I'm sure you'll do fine. Just...don't get into anyone's way."

Senna came from the kitchen then, frowning. "What about my way? Won't she be in my way?" Korren shot her a glare.

"Mother..."

Senna huffed. "Accepting huh? So, who's leaving the tribe? I'll make them something to go off with."

"Leaving?" Asami questioned. "Because of me?" Asami suddenly felt worst. People would actually leave their home just because of her.

"No! Mother!"

Senna shrugged. "Well,"

"No one is leaving. We need everyone to stay together now more than ever. Don't say that. You'll frighten her." Korren huffed looking back at Asami. "The elder's think it's a good idea for us to marry once the smoke from today's regrettable events have cleared. I can't promise you a fresh start though. I'll let your father know in the morning. In a few days, everything will be final and all this nonsense will end."

* * *

**Well. I'm sorry this took so long. School's out now so... YAY! **

**Leave me lots of comments and thoughts please! I'd like to know what you all think. Oh, and Also I realized I suck at telling how big a tribe is...sooo, if okay with you, I'd like to fix that. Just imagine Book 2 southern water tribe but *a bit* smaller. That's where Korren lives. :D I hope that helps. Sorry about that mix up by the way. **

**Again, Please please leave a thought for me. **

**Till next time **

***Flies away* **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- The Warriors of the South**

The first thing Korren had to do when faced in front of the Elders was bow. There were four, the oldest of them, Assan, somewhere in his late eighties or early nineties, with a hair color whiter than snow and skin like ash. Being the oldest, he was said to be the wisest, and for that, Korren's father held a lot of faith in his reasoning and decisions. As he grew, Korren hoped to find the same type of trust in the man, after all, he would need Assan's guidance and favor should he live to see Korren become chief, but all Assan ever did, when he wasn't drinking ale with the less than honorable members of the council, was frown. If he spoke to Korren at all it was in a jeer-ful tone and was hardly anything essential. Some quick jab at Korren's manliness perhaps, or a vulgar comment about who he'd marry. Korren learned how to bite his tongue in front of the man. If his father trusted Assan even an ounce, it was for a good reason, and at the very least Korren respected that much about him.

It was he who frowned the hardest at Korren, his dark grey eyes held something waiting to be said, something vile and menacing. The wrinkles in his face curled up with his frown, making him look like he should be long dead. The others followed his lead, giving Korren their most disgusted looks. Even Carswell, who always seemed to give Korren a sort of leeway in the most serious of situations, held a frown on his face that spoke louder than his words ever could.

They were furious.

Korren dropped to his knees on the cold hard ground before them and looked to the dirt as he bowed. It was all he could do until they gave him their permission to speak. Probably all he could do until the night was finally said to be over. His bow alone would have to serve as his apology, since he was sure they would never allow one to leave his mouth.

Assan spoke first, rising as the words began to leave his mouth. He stood with a cane, half shaky and wobbling, but that didn't stop him from using it to hit Korren over the head, the way a father would discipline a son.

"This is what happens when you send a woman to do a man's job." He said. It took Korren a lot not to make a sound, or rise from his bow to scold at the man. "Did Tonraq not teach you well enough? We do _not_ submit when an enemy approaches. Ugh, A woman isn't smart enough to understand that. We dress you in a warriors uniform, but that still does not make you a smart thing does it?"

_What was I to do?_ Korren wanted to ask. A feeling of anxiety rose in his chest. What if this decision was wrong? The elders certainly seemed to believe so, still in his mind there was no better option than this. And yet...what if he was all wrong? What would be left of his people when the Fire Lord was done with them? He shivered at the thought, and kept his head down.

"Korren does not call it submission." Terrick said in a deep and harsh voice. "Is that not what you said at the last meeting, Prince? That this is not submission?"

Korren wasn't sure of whether to answer the question or not. He bit his tongue, wanting not to speak out of place.

"Korren isn't all to blame. The fire empire grows stronger everyday. We cannot match them even if we had Northerners on our side. Still, a union is no better than fighting them off. Korren has sentenced us to death." It was Carswell who spoke this, and perhaps hearing this from him is what made Korren cringe so hard.

_A marriage will not be the end of us._ Korren wanted so badly to speak, but with them all against him so strongly he thought it best to keep his mouth shut.

"Chief Tonraq would know best what to do in this situation, but regretfully he is ill, so the tribe looks to you to keep them safe, and this is what you do? Line fire nation men out on our streets one by one." Assan hit Korren with the cane once again. "Is that meant to make them feel safe you foolish thing?"

"Korren anticipates them to leave once the marriage is complete." Carswell defended weakly. "Still, that does not speak for what's to come."

"We've already seen what's to come!" Assan growled. "Once this marriage is set who's to say they won't burn our people next?"

"Marriage?" Laec spoke with a scoff. "They came all this way to burn our huts and marry our Prince? For what? A name? What's in his name they couldn't get from a fire nation boy? They've come to disgrace him with their whore-"

"Korren will surely take another wife to make up for this one. One fire, One water. Won't he?" Korren looked up then to see Carswell's face hadn't softened despite the change in his tone. He looked a Korren with an expression that matched Assan's. Stiffly, Korren nodded.

"Still, what good would a wife do a woman? It's a waste."

"It's his pride. A chief will need a family, no matter how useless or incomplete. Tonraq was married to Senna for nearly a year before she bared, and still she has not given him another."

"A chief? This is under the assumption, Tonraq dies-" Laec hissed in Carswell's direction.

"Well have you seen him?"

"My marriage isn't what's important!" Korren nearly shouted to stop their bickering. "The Fire Princess isn't important either. I did what I thought was best and my apologies for not finding a moment to ask your guidance. Hiroshi says he wants my bloodline. I don't know if he will want more. For right now , I will give him my name if it means he will leave my tribe and never return with war. Why is that wrong?"

The elder's were silent for a short and tense moment. Finally, Tarrick shrugged and said, "Well, married to their princess you have no bloodline to give. You'll make a fool of her and her father, you think you can avoid war then?"

"Well-"

"It's too late to offer you guidance, foolish boy." Assan spat at Korren's hands. "I knew this would bring us nothing good. I knew from the moment Tonraq entered begging for his child. A girl in boy's clothing, pssh," He scoffed. "A girl just the same. Look at the decisions she's made!"

"You should have told him no from the start and let him face the wrath of the Southern Warriors, as few as there might be. This is our pride and you've tarnished it. They will walk our streets like its theirs. As a chief, how will you explain that to your people? That you've given their pride to a Tyrant." Tarrick spoke matter-of-factly.

Korren frowned, "This isn't just about pride-"

"Our pride is what keeps us alive." Tarrick hissed. "Is fighting the only thing Tonraq has taught you?"

"Our pride is also what keeps us at war with the North when, by name, they should be our allies against the fire empire-" Korren spoke before he could think. He knew speaking of the Northerners would grant him no favor. He knew they were evil and vile and still he spoke their name in front of his elders. Expectedly the words earned him hit in the head from Assan's fearful cane.

"This is the thing we will make Chief after Tonraq's passing?" Assan shook his head, "What a shame."

"There is no real choice now, is there?"

"If we do not title the boy, we will disgrace his great father before him."

"And yet if we do, his decisions are what we will suffer with."

"Bare with him, he's still young."

"What do you plan to do if Hiroshi doesn't do as you hope? What if he stays once the marriage is complete?"

Korren knew well enough to question Hiroshi's word, yet a plan for if this all backfires hadn't crossed his mind. He thought for a moment before he answered.

"We don't have the men to fight them and the North should come to that. For now, all I can say is try to keep the peace. If Hiroshi isn't angered there will be no need to fight them. Can't we all agree that is the best option right now?"

"I think we all agree that you're an idiot." Laec said with a cynical laugh. "And what you've done, if it doesn't kill us first, will be the end of The South. The Fire Empire isn't known to make deals, or to bargain. They use us like they use the earth benders."

Korren cringed and stood from his bow. "I will find a way to take care of it should it come to that, but I am certain, if we abide by Hiroshi's wishes, it won't."

Laec sighed, "We don't trust you not to make this worse."

"But we don't have much of a choice other than to leave it in your hands until, if, your father comes to."

"We hope, for the sake of the tribe that he does...and quickly at that."

-X-

"Old hags." Korren muttered under his breath as he left the hut. Who were they not to have any faith in him anyhow? Had the elders forgotten so soon who leads the tribes into the battles they, up until recently, always came back victorious from?

What made them think he couldn't handle something as diplomatic as the Fire Lord? No, he wasn't his father, and he could never be, but at the very least he had learned everything he knew from Tonraq The Great. Second best or not it would have to do for them because it was Korren who shared blood with the man, and it was Korren who was to be chief next. At the very least, they could have some faith in him. Some trust in his decisions.

No, all they could really do was sit above him and ridicule him as they watched.

"What did they say?" Barse, who seemed to have been waiting outside the hut, grabbed a hold of Korren's arm as he walked, effectively stopping him from hurrying off.

Korren scoffed, "That I'm incompetent, but in more words."

Barse didn't hide the chuckle that came as Korren spoke those words angrily. "Well, can you blame them?"

Korren grabbed his arm away from Barse's grip and continued to walk. "That isn't a joke. Without the support of the Elders, what hope do I have of getting the tribe to support me? We'll die-"

"I get it!" Barse said quickly, before Korren could go into an angry rant. "The Fire Lord can be tricky to handle. I honestly don't believe there's any right way to go about it. The Elders are just cynical. Didn't your father ever tell you that?"

His words calmed Korren down a bit. At least someone understood, and it wasn't by fearful force either. At the very least, he had one person on his side.

"Yes…"

Barse walked a bit closer to Korren, so he could lower his voice a little more as the conversation seemingly became more secretive. "You do know the tribe is talking though, don't you?" Korren was very much aware of the eyes in the dark following him as he walked with Barse. He tried to pay them no mind. The streets needed to be clean as quickly as possible, but he knew his people well enough to realize they cared more about scowling at him rather than doing their job.

"Yes,"_ I don't care._ Korren wanted badly to say. But he couldn't. He wasn't a child anymore, he couldn't just beat a man bloody for looking at him the wrong way like he used to. A chief can't be bothered with every petty look of he was given.

"And what do you intend to do to calm them? Tonraq is dying and you're marrying the Fire Lord's daughter-"

"I know-"

"They're saying you haven't even been to see your father yet. That you don't care." Korren frowned at that. He was unconscious for nearly a week after the battle against the Northern spirits, and then for two days he had to deal with the Fire Lord and his tyranny. What time was there to see his father?

"Is it bad?" Korren asked, though he cringed to hear the answer.

"Yes." His mother cried a lot for his father, that much Korren knew. But Senna had a tendency to cry every time Korren got bruised, so regardless of how bad she said it was, it was hard to believe it was anything worse than how he last saw his father. "With most of the healing huts burned, and without oasis water, it's hard to say how long they can keep him alive in his condition."

With a groan Korren made a u-turn and headed towards what little was left of healing huts. "You can't even speak sense to him with the way he is. He's the only one who hasn't died yet. Whatever the North did to him-"

"Korren!" It was Griff who called out Korren's name. It was in his usual mocking like tone. A second later one of his heavy hands rested on Korren's shoulders.

"Are the Elders letting you go through with this?" He didn't wait for an answer before he continued on. "It's like those men will let you do anything these days!"

"There isn't much of a choice really."

"Sure there is!" Griff patted the sword hanging on his waist, and gestured to the snow on the ground below them. "Water beats fire."

"Only when there's more water than fire-"

"That sounds like you don't trust us to win!"

"It's me not wanting my men to do anything prematurely stupid. If you can avoid a fight between them, please try to." Griff began to laugh as Korren glared. "That's an order!"

Still, Griff laughed and shrugged his shoulders. He knocked Barse on his back to get his attention, "Say, do you think the Fire Princess will make a good wife? How much do you wanna bet-"

"We aren't making bets on the Fire Princess!" Korren growled. "She is not here to be mocked!"

"Defending your woman already?" The mocking lilt in his voice was begging for Korren to say something, but he kept silent, clenching his jaw tightly, as they walked towards what was left of the healing huts.

While most of the rubble had been moved from the streets, the wooden frames of the huts now stood unstable and blackened, having mostly been burnt. The grounds surrounding the huts were charred, the snow around them scarce. The acrid smell of burned wood, furs and flesh hung heavy in the air keeping most people away, and with the loss of the heavy fabrics of walls and doors, the women who were inside were forced to use whatever they could to keep the cold air from coming in.

Suddenly, a loud screech came from the inside the hut, pulling Korren from his thoughts. A shiver ran down his spine. It wasn't exactly fear that sunk into his gut, but it was indeed something that he didn't like the feeling of. Anxiousness perhaps. He swallowed it. With a baneful expression, he pulled aside the curtains and willed his legs to move inside. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to expect, since they were always victorious in battle and there was hardly ever any need for the healing hut to exceptionally busy with wounded warriors. A multitude of women rushing around burn victim's perhaps. The three pools they had in this particular hut filled with groaning tribesmen. Blood? Lots of it...Shouted commands from the older women at the young girls still in training while they tried there hardest to save those hurt? He just wasn't sure.

Whatever he wanted to see when he entered, this was not it. Inside looked much worse than the rubble outside, of course. Most the supplies had burnt, the healing pools stood empty, needing to be refilled. The shelves damaged by fire stood barren and crooked, the planks falling from their frames. Small trinkets littered the floors still, but that was quickly being taken care of.

Contrary to what he expected, there weren't many women inside. They all moved about and doing different tasks. All of which held different levels of importance.

It was strangely chatty inside, mostly from the younger girls, who still liked to gossip about boys and read fictional tales of happy marriages. Korren heard his name being passed about some, followed by bitters words regarding the Fire Nation troops that were still parked at the docks and slowly making themselves comfortable as guards on the streets surrounding.

The older women huddled off into groups of their own and spoke in a lower, more cynical, tone about the matter. Yet amidst all of it, it didn't seem as frantic as he thought it would have been. It just seemed like women who wanted to finish their job for the day and return home. No doubt they were frightened by the Fire Nation's arrival and Hiroshi's angry fit of fire. Going home would bring them some sort of secure feeling perhaps.

"Prince Korren." Arika stopped in her tracks and bowed to him. She was a woman his age with dark hair that fell down in traditional braids at her shoulders. Once, they were in the same healing classes together. She used to like giggling to Korren about which one of the future warriors she'd marry and which one she didn't like. Korren never giggled back or found talk of men interesting. For a long while she stopped talking to him. Now she was married and with a family of her own to look after by one of the same boys she giggled and gushed over. Korren tried not to think about how her life could've easily been his.

She attempted a smile as she rose from her bow. It was false, half crooked and not reaching her eyes. "You're awfully bloody…" She reached up to touch her fingertips to Korren's slightly bruised face. He hadn't noticed he had started to bleed again- all thanks to Assan and his cane of terror. He lifted his arm and wiped his face.

"I'm fine-" Another screech like horror interrupted his words. He recoiled, somewhat frightened by the sound, while Griff and Barse both reached for their swords hanging on their waist out of defensive habit.

Arika simply closed her eyes, tight like a child, until the sound died out. "What was that!" Korren demanded know, searching around the hut for a source.

Arika hesitated to reply, "Er- Your father actually. Is it him you came to see?"

Korren looked at her like she was a liar. There was no way a sound so horrific could come from his father. Absolutely no way.

"He's been like that since you men returned. It hasn't gotten better, just worse. We fear there is nothing we can do for him!" One of the older woman quickly said.

Suddenly, Korren remembered, in vivid detail, how his father looked when they brought him back. Half spirit. Half man. Something twisted, mutated, sickly.

"It's best you don't go back there Prince!" Arika warned. "It's nasty, and you have your hands full with the Fire Lord. Let us worry of the Chief-"

Barse pushed past her, "The Prince would like to see his father, who are you to deny a man that right?" Arika recoiled slightly, then completely stepped out of Korren's way.

"Before you go, you'll at least tell us you have the Elder's support, don't you? It'll ease our minds to know whether or not they believe this marriage thing will-"

"Be quiet." Korren hissed. "That is none of your concern." With that he pushed past Barse and into the small room that held his father.

The creature that laid in the bed was not his father, Korren determined. It was barely even a man. Its body was misshapen, twisted and damaged. If his father existed in it at all, he was hardly recognizable, except for maybe his hair, which was stilled tied back into it's long version of a wolf tail. The hand that was unaffected by the fusion, the left hand, was now a sickly yellowish green that bloated and throbbed with fluids. Tonraq's face was no longer his. All of it now blue, half of it taken by a large yellow eye, the other half had a beady little blue one that darted around the room frantically. His nose was gone, and now instead there only two small holes where it should be. His teeth had fallen out, leaving what was left of his mouth bloody. A long slimy tongue peeked out from inside what should be it's month.

Tonraq's large body was gone, and now in it's place was something twisted, damaged and sickly. He was beginning to glow a bright blue. The stench coming from him was rotten.

It opened it's mouth and shrieked, spewing slimy, bloody saliva everywhere.

Korren cringed, drawing his hand over his nose to shield himself from the stench.

It wailed around on the small bed it laid in, screeching at Korren.

_What an evil tactic._ Korren thought. The North suddenly seemed more formidable of an opponent, if this is what they would use against them.

There was a sharp sound as Griff drew his sword, "We can't trust it. It was set upon us by the North! There is no good that can come from it. Look at it!" He demanded of Korren. "Are we going to wait till it gets worse?"

"I thought of this too," Barse said, his hand hovering over his weapon. "It was given to us by the North, what if it grows strong and attacks?"

"Tonraq wouldn't attack his people!" Korren spoke quickly, but as the creature jerked itself until it fell from its place in the bed with a hard thud it became very clear that this thing was no longer Tonraq.

Griff grunted at it. "It begs to be killed."

The thing looked at Korren with eyes that didn't match and shrieked once again. It seemed to be somewhat flopping as it attempted to make its way over.

Korren searched for something, anything that would say his father might still be in there, but the yellow and blue eyes showed him nothing but franticness, darting about the room without purpose, as the tongue flicked over it's mouth uselessly.

"We don't know what this will do to the tribe." _We protect our people first._ Korren remembered.

"I would say to give my father another day or so to recover, but it seems he's gone. If this were something that went away in time, the North wouldn't have used it as a weapon." It pained Korren to say it, but if Tonraq still existed in there somewhere, this is what he would want. Korren was sure of it. He would rather die than become a weapon used to murder his own people. Still, whether or not this was right conflicted within him. A son should never order his father's death.

"At least we agree on one thing." The thing shrieked for a final time before Griff raised his sword and it was done with pure yellow liquid gushing about the room.

-X-

Asami's face wasn't what Korren wanted to see when he entered his home. He wanted a hot bath, a meal and sleep.

Soft golden eyes met his sharp blue ones, a sullen expression painted across the pale face. She looked at him directly, then not at all.

Trying not to groan in front of the Princess he removed his coat and sloppily threw it down anywhere. He sat beside her, attempting to be somewhat of comfort. It was strange, and difficult finding words to speak to her. She seemed so delicate, what soft words could he offer her?

"The council…" He started shakily. "The council seems more accepting of the idea." It was a complete lie. The members of the council were all grown men capable of understanding when tough decisions had to be made. By the time he planned to wed Asami he hoped it would settle in their minds that he wasn't doing this because he wanted to.

Asami's face hadn't grown softer as he expected. She looked at him with half a frown, her pale face tired and somewhat quivering, though Korren didn't know for sure if it was because she was frightened or cold.

"Griff is running a bet on how well of a wife you'll make." Her eyes widened some, and her cheeks reddened, just slightly. Korren cringed, perhaps those weren't the words he should have used. "But with my mother's guidance I'm sure you'll do just fine!" He added quickly. "Just...don't get into anyone's way." He was sure the Princess wouldn't purposefully begin any disputes between the women of the tribe and herself, however that didn't mean they wouldn't try to kill her regardless. The last thing he needed was for her to die so soon after her arrival.

Senna appeared from the kitchen then, a motherly scowl fit on her face, "What about my way?" She demanded. "Won't she be in my way?" Korren glared at his mother.

She wouldn't kill Asami, that much he was sure of. But she wasn't insulting her without end. And Asami, so quietly, was shivering at Korren's side.

"Mother-"

Senna answered him with a huff, "Accepting huh? So, who's leaving the tribe? I'll make them something to go off with."

"Leaving?" Asami sounded panicked. "Because of me?"

"No!" Korren moaned. "Mother!" Senna was usually good at sensing when Korren was tired. Why couldn't she tell that he was exhausted now? Why couldn't she leave her bitter comments unsaid for the rest of the night. Korren was sure Asami had gotten an earful while he was away.

"No one is leaving. We need everyone to stay together now more than ever. Don't say that. You'll frighten her!" His mother pouted, as he turned back to Asami. "The elder's think it's a good idea for us to marry once the smoke from today's regrettable events have cleared." No, they didn't. They didn't think it was a good idea for them to marry at all, but Korren wanted to believe it and Asami needed to feel safe with him at the very least. " I can't promise you a fresh start though. I'll let your father know in the morning. In a few days, everything will be final and all this nonsense will end."

Dinner followed shortly after that, but while his mother's food gave him a sort of comfort, Asami barely touched hers. She seemed sadder than she had in the first time they met as looked down into her plate.

_Say something._ Korren urged himself. The words that came were more awkward than the silence, still Korren spoke them as gently as he could. "I don't want you to be frightened."

Asami stiffened at the sound of his voice. Then, she nodded just the same. "Okay," she said softly, her voice barely audible.

"That wasn't an order…"

"I know."

It was a stupid choice of words. Of course she would be frightened regardless of what Korren wanted.

Korren took Asami's hand in his. It was a small, and perhaps pointless, gesture, but as far as comfort went, this is all he could offer her.

"How do you like water tribe food?" He asked, prompting her to speak. Senna huffed where she stood watching, earning herself a warning glance from Korren.

Asami attempted a smile, for Korren's sake. Looking down into her plate of seaweed noodles and tigerseal she spoke, "We have water tribe dishes in my home sometimes. Father enjoys meals like this when he's telling his comrades your stories, though I'm not sure they are as traditionally prepared as this."

Korren smiled with her as well, "My stories?"

Asami's face heated in a blush, "Sometimes he's just reciting what he's heard of you, other times he's telling watertribe legends. Like the one about Hama the Bloodbender. He likes the creepy ones most."

Korren grinned as he thought about that tale. It was over a hundred years old, dating back to long before Avatar Aang was found in the iceberg. However that tale wasn't ever told for the sake of entertainment. It served as a warning to all benders out there. It showed them how strong they were, but also how easily their power mixed with vengeance could corrupt them. Of course, since Hama, and Katara- a comrade of Avatar Aang who died at the young age of twenty, shortly after the hundred year war was brought to an end by Ozai, there hasn't been a bender in the Southern water tribe foolish enough to attempt bloodbending, or strong enough for that matter.

"Can you bend blood as well? Can everyone here?" Asami began to recoil in her seat, her face going pale again.

Korren chuckled, offering her hand a gentle squeeze. "No, I can't. You don't have to worry about that. No one here can actually."

"So it's just a tall tale then?"

"No, it's true. There have been bloodbenders in the past. None since the hundred year war however."

"Oh," Asami visibly released a breath, and chuckled to herself as though she realized how silly she was being.

"How does your father know so many water tribe tales anyways?"

Asami shrugged. "I don't know actually. I suppose he could've always gone to the grand library- or send someone to do it for him. There are stories from all over the world there. Historical facts they don't even teach in schools. I don't really know how he knew about you either. The water tribes have managed to stay very isolated. I suppose strength dons stories. and stories travel."

Korren silently wondered what other stories of him had managed to travel all the way to the fire nation. How much did Hiroshi actually know about him and his people? And just what was he planning to do with the information? He swallowed a lump forming in his throat to smile back at Asami. "Well, I am the son of a great chief, there are stories of me even here. Some false, some true."

"I've heard that as well. Korren, Tonraq's son. In the Fire Nation, the women speculate you to look like…." Asami's smile had gotten much bigger. She was almost grinning as she thought of proper words to say. "Mmm, eight feet tall, long hair like silk, skin as though you were dipped in bronze, and eyes like blue sky on a clear day. All of this wrapped in blue furs, necklaces made from animal bones and teeth, and to top it all off a heavy sword only you or your father were strong enough to wield."

Korren couldn't stop himself from laughing, while Asami began to blush again, this time deeper. She hung her head out of shyness while Korren laughed at her little tale. "Well, did I meet your expectations?"

Asami chuckled a little as well, with the hand that wasn't entangled with Korren's she hesitantly ran her fingers through his short hair. "Well, mostly. you're hair is soft, not as long as I thought it would be. Also," She drew her hand back as she said this, "You're short."

Korren snorted his laughter. Asami drew her hand from his to blush.

The moment ended with Senna stepping in between the two, a scowl buried in her face, directed at her son. "I think it's been a long day. The Fire Princess needs sleep, as do you. You'll need all your energy to deal with the Fire Lord tomorrow morning won't you?"

In that same instant, Asami's beautiful smile and blush was gone. She stood when Senna urged her to. "Where will she sleep?"

"In my bed of course, we can't have her sleep on the floor." Korren said as though it was obvious.

Senna gave him a long glare, "With you?"

"I'll take the couch for the night. It'll be fine." Asami bowed to him as she bid him a good night. And like earlier that day, he took her hand in his and kissed it as his farewell for the night.

-X-

Sleep was hard to find in cold and small room that was Korren's. Everything around her was some shade of blue, white or brown, unfamiliar and odd colors for the red and golden Fire Princess to stare at for long without beginning to feel sick. Even the darkness itself seemed to be a darkened shade of blue.

The quiet murmurs coming from outside the room did nothing to soothe the ache still growing in her chest. Prince Korren seemed nice enough. He was warm and welcoming and strangely easy to speak to. Still,_ They're talking about you_ the anxiety in her head persisted. Of course they were. There was no way they weren't. The words, though spoken too lowly and too quickly to truly be understood, sounded harsh.

She make out very little of what was being said. Words like "Fire" and "Princess" had definitely been said, so she was sure she was a topic.

Korren's voice sounded strangely harsh, a little angry even. She worried his anger might be directed at her. He never asked for this either, and Asami was perhaps less than ideal a wife according his traditional standards.

In his bed she worried, and worried, and worried. Korren and his mother spoke for a long while. A very long and tense while for Asami. They spoke harshly at some point, too soft for Asami to even differentiate their voices at others.

What were they planning to do with her? Did they hate her because of her father? Would Korren even acknowledge her anymore after Hiroshi got what he came for? It was wrong to listen when they spoke in private, she knew, but Asami _needed_ to know what would become of her in this strange place she would have to call home.

By the time they had finished speaking, Asami was beginning to drift off. She was tired and anxious at the same time. What would the morning bring for her?

-X-

Asami was jolted awake by the sound of a scream. Senna's scream to be precise. She sat up in bed, shivering at the sound when it was joined by something else.

Stomping?

Something big shook the ground as it approached. Suddenly she could hear the shouts and screams coming from outside the the window. She could hear the crunching sounds of bones as they broke. She could hear the splash of water as it was being bent by warriors, the grunting sounds of fighting men…

What was going on?

What was happening?

Fear begged Asami to stay where she was, it gripped her like it never had before. Yet, the sounds of Senna screaming prompted her to get on her feet and run towards the sound.

She found Senna at the door, her face pale, hands covering her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks and legs quivering.

Asami wasn't prepared for what she was met with. She had never seen anything like it. It was a _glowing_ blue giant_ thing _with four long arms dragging as it walked. Eyes yellow and large. There wasn't just one, there were many, attacking men effortlessly.

The sight froze her. The creatures _walked_ through fully grown men, leaving them screaming, seemingly crippled and only half a man. After a moment of jerking, most of them had stopped moving.

Fire Nation red mixed with the blue of the water tribe as they fought, but Hiroshi's men proved useless as many of them were as new to this as Asami, and perhaps just as frozen with fear. They either ran, or stood in fear as the creatures passed through them.

In the middle of it all, she saw Korren, fighting just as the tales said he did, only...it wasn't water or sword Korren wielded as his weapon. It was earth. Huge chucks of the ground flew up and out at his command. Gaping holes formed in the middle of the earth, swallowing the creatures whole.

Senna screamed for her son.

Asami shivered watching him. What was he? He was a waterbender. The tales said he was a waterbender! So how was he willing earth as well?

As the creatures disappeared by Korren's hand, more appeared, surrounding them. They were out numbered. Badly.

It seems as though as Asami realized this so did Korren. He dropped his choice weapon, breathing heavily in the middle of what became a battlefield. He looked distressed, tired. His hair clung to him with water and sweat, and his clothes were disheveled. The ground around him was riddled with craters, and dust floated around him. It clung to his face, dirtying it, but the exhaustion was clear in his features.

"No." Asami begged. "No, no!" He couldn't be tired! He couldn't! There were still too many…

Too many to fight off.

Korren frowned as a creature approached him and raised the earth once more, swinging at it. While it slowed the creature down, it didn't stop it.

Asami let out a cry for Korren, louder than Senna's as the creature passed through his body.

Everything seemed to go still for her in that moment. As the merging ended, Korren fell, with his face half of a man's. His body half his. He twitched for a moment, then stopped moving completely.

Senna pushed past her, shouldering her without a care, and ran to her son's side, regardless of the danger surrounding the fallen soldier. She picked him up and held him to her chest the way a mother does, chanting all the way "No, no. no…"

Asami wanted to move as well, but Senna was lost in the same moment Asami dared take a step forward, falling atop Korren's body with her body mutated like the fallen surrounding them.

No. Asami paused. No Her legs shook. She wasn't brave enough to run to his side as well. She wasn't brave enough to die the same way they had.

She screamed instead, falling to her knees, putting her hands over her ears to kill the sound of the chaos. She just screamed.

Korren's eyes shot open as Asami cried for him. They shot open and shone a brilliant white. He wasn't dead...not yet anyways.

The mutation of his body began to clear away as he stood, flexing his muscles. He crunched his fingers together and the earth opened larger than it had before, swallowing the creatures in vast amounts. He opened his mouth and screamed something shrill and out poured fire, burning the things where the stood until they were nothing.

In this state, he fought, single handedly, tirelessly. He fought and he won.

-X-

Korren woke up startled and nauseous. He leaned over the side of the bed and emptied the little he had in his stomach on to the floor.

"Are you okay?!" A sweet and gentle voice asked him, panicked. Asami came into his view then, her golden eyes filled with worry and her brows upturned into a frown. "I'm sorry, most people don't take to being on ships well. Are you still feeling seasick?"

He frowned at her. "W-what?" He was dizzy and his head hurt. "Where am I?"

As he came to, he noticed all the red where there should be blue. The covers of the bed he laid in, the walls. Even the floor was dressed in red carpeting.

He began to panic then. At the very least, he was still dressed in his blue warriors wear, though it was torn up, and stained with blood.

"What?" He demanded. "Where I am?"

Asami stood then, She was dressed in her traditional red dress attired, her long hair cascading down her to her waist. Her lips dressed in red lipstick. She gave him a shy blush as his gaze wandered about her curiously.

He jumped from the bed then, though it probably wasn't a good idea. His entire body was sore, and his feet ached to stand on,

"Please, lower your voice, Prince." She begged. "If my father hears he'll worry that I'm bothering you…" Her frown deepened. "His prize."

He grabbed a hold of her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Where am I? How long have I been asleep? Where is your father?"

Asami shivered at his touch. "You're on my father's ship. We set a course to the Fire Nation last night. I don't know where my father is. You've been out all day, and in my father's possession since the battle between you and those-" She swallowed. "Creatures...ended."

She wiggled from his grip then, tears glistening her eyes. "He wants to speak with you, please, put these on." She reached behind her and presented him clothing all red, with a small streak of brown and blue mixed in.

"I will not wear red!" Korren hissed. "And I want to get off this ship! Right now!"

* * *

**This was fun. :) A HUGE HUGE thanks to my Beta, Cookie, cause she really helped me out with this chapter. I had bad writers block so this is why it took so long. Sorry guys. But now I don't so YAY! :D **

**Please leave me a thought, or a comment! Let me know what you think of this chapter! **

**Next chapter soon! **

**Till next time. **

***Flies away* **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- Journey to the Fire Nation**

It was long into the night before most of the smoke cleared away, leaving behind only the devastation and lingering smell of fire and burning flesh. Bodies and limbs laid messily in the streets, black and seared. Few of them were clearly human. Others were large twisted figures with extra limbs and yellow fluid still leaking from their wounds and pooling beneath their blackened bodies. Some of them were so burnt and dismantled it was hard to tell who, or what they actually were before they had the misfortune of meeting Korren's fire.

Hiroshi's boots made a heavy crunch in the snow. It was beginning to fall heavily, and lined the streets thickly in white once more. He stood in the middle of the destruction, observing what the Prince, mostly, had done to his home. His violence seemed awfully reckless and the aftermath left the the Southern Water Tribe looking even more pathetic than when he arrived. The homes were already small and nothing to be proud of, but now they were tattered and falling apart, their charred frames littering the battlefield as far out as he could see. People were saving what they could, clothing and small amounts of furniture, things they could easily strap to their backs, or get their children to carry as they prepared to move further into the tribe Hiroshi assumed, away from the sight of the main battle while a clean up would be initiated.

Countless bodies of man and creature alike laid dead and scattered about the streets, unconcerning to the tribesmen who were more interested in saving themselves first. But what had fascinated Hiroshi wasn't the fact that they cared little about leaving the strange creatures scattered about, it was Korren. One of the bodies that laid like the dead was Korren's, though he had won the battle hours ago. His own people weren't as concerned about saving him as he was for them. Or perhaps they thought him dead like the rest. Still he hadn't been moved in the slightest. A man with Korren's unique abilities was worth the check- as silly as that might have seemed.

Or maybe they knew he'd get up regardless, it was all a matter of time to them. After all, books and journal reports that spoke of people like Korren, if he was indeed what Hiroshi suspected, then he wouldn't have died so easily. His body would do everything in its power to stop him from dying. It was miraculous and useful in its own way. Especially for Korren, if he fought like he alone was the army every time he lead his men into battle.

Or maybe they didn't care for him at all anymore. Their Prince did seem to have lost himself in that moment, from a fire nation point of view. With his eyes shining such a brilliant white he seemed unable to differentiate between an enemy and his people. He simply burned anything that moved, and he did so until, even in this seemingly tireless state, he wore himself out. While it was unfortunate for his people, Hiroshi couldn't deny it would be one hell of a gift to have could it be trained, controlled and put to better use.

"Pick him up." Hiroshi firmly ordered his men. "Leave him in Asami's care, a beautiful woman shouldn't frighten him should he wake up." With a grunt his men began moving, scooping the unconscious Prince from the snow and lugging him away. Korren didn't even so much as stir.

"What are you doing?" A voice said as it approached him. Hiroshi looked then to see a few of the Southern men lined off against him, with their hands hovering over their weapon, ready to draw should he say the wrong thing. "Why are you still here? Leave!"

Hiroshi couldn't help but laugh. After witnessing 'the strength of the southerners' it was clear to him that most of that southern strength was simply ambition, and without Korren they were hardly anything to be afraid of. Certainly nothing his firebenders couldn't handle at the very least. "I plan to, you need not worry of that."

"You will drop the boy, and leave alone." The man threatened. "The Southerners want no union with you."

"After today's fights, it seems you _need_ the union rather than simply just want it. With Korren in that condition, who will fight for you and the few lives you look after here?"

A sword was drawn with a sharp _whoosh _in the cold winter air. Weapons were raised and elements were put to use. Hiroshi's men stood defensive as well, with their fist closed tightly, ready throw fire when needed. Even with such few men behind him, the southerners looked greatly outnumbered, and sloppy compared to that of the Fire Nation.

"You needn't worry though, I plan to make the boy my heir. More so now than before. As that is the case you men are practically family, and I know how much you water tribe folks value family. Therefore, I will not be leaving you to your devices. Some of my men will stay here and watch over you, train you even." He earned a few growls and disgusted looks.

"We don't need your guidance. The elders will choose a new name for chief. You can take your firebenders and leave. You will not be welcomed here!"

"Do it for Korren. Think about how proud he'll be-" A sharp sting invaded his face then, leaving his cheek feeling frostbitten and bloody. He frowned at them like a father scowling an unruly child.

"Korren wouldn't want a fight…" Still heat erupted from behind him, and in return was water raised back. "The Fire Nation cannot trust people of your sort to rule themselves. That is why this union will happen in one way or another. For your own good."

-X-

Fire. That's all Korren really remembered, after passing out due to the pain of fusing with the blue spirits. He vividly remembered the feeling of his entire body was being ripped apart. He could feel his flesh tear to make room for the limbs growing rapidly - the strangeness of the yellow liquid the spirit creatures called blood rushing through his veins. Feeling his breath being forced from his lungs, then...nothing. Nothing until fire came in angry burst from his mouth and palms. He could feel everything then. The pain from wounds beginning to fade. The exhaustion, of pushing his body. The heat from the flames boiling his blood yet not burning. The triumphant feeling of victory while watching the spirits of the north burn.

Then nothing again. Not until he woke up here, with Asami hovering worriedly over him. It was irritating and somewhat satisfactory the same. A part of him didn't want to remember what happened. Not if it meant he might have done something so horrible Hiroshi decided to take personal care of him.

Still, he needed to know. It was obligation. His tribe would need him now even more than before. After a Northern attack that large it was bound to take them months to recover. And with their leader gone who was to say what might happen to them. The North was growing dangerously bold. With their new weapon working ever so fantastically there was no doubt in his mind that not even the winter's cold would stop them from attack the tribe again. Or maybe even their Chief and his son would come to talk the tribe into submission.

Panic and frustration filled Korren's chest. What did Hiroshi want now anyways? Why did it involve taking him away from his home?

"You don't seem to be in any pain," Asami said after a still, and tense, moment of silence.

Korren grimaced, running his hands over his rib cage, where the blue limbs would've been. It was almost relieving to feel that there wasn't anything there that shouldn't be. "I feel fine."

Asami made a face as though she would cry, and Korren sincerely hoped she wouldn't. With everything that happened in the past few days, he was hardly in any position to console a crying woman. "You shouldn't! Not after what happened. I've never seen anything like it. If the fire benders had to fight those things every battle, there is no way they would get up and fight the way you did. You should be hurt, at the very least, yet you don't even have a scratch."

The Princess hadn't been particularly outstanding like her father. She was tentative and feeble, but never had she cried...at least not in Korren's presence. The prince stood stiff, unsure of how to react should a tear actually fall from her eye. Was he in a position to hug her? Or to even touch her? Was their betrothal still intact, or has Hiroshi changed his mind?

Korren looked away after a moment of nothing but staring. The last thing he wanted on his mind was her comfort. After all, she was fine. Protected by her father's men perhaps. Hiroshi was taking her home- where she will stay fine and well guarded. She didn't have the same worries as Korren did.

"Just get me off this ship," The words were spoken a bit bitterly making Asami cringe.

"I can't do that…But perhaps, if you ask my father he might..." She stopped speaking, seemingly not even believing the words she spoke herself. Hiroshi didn't seem like the type to change his mind on anything. "Change your clothing and I'm sure he'll send someone for you...eventually."

Korren's eyebrows twitched into an annoyed frown. "Eventually? Do I seem as though I want to wait for him? He needs to tell me what he intends to do with me. What was so important he decided it was worth it to take me from my home!" Asami held the clothing up to her face and closed her eyes in a flinch away from Korren's anger.

With her mouth buried in what he was to wear she spoke, "You're his prize. He never speaks fully when ears he doesn't want around might be listening, but if you ask me, I'm sure he intends to train you-"

"Train me?" Korren scoffed. "I never asked to be trained!"

"No...but he thinks you're useful- which is good! You'll make a great-"

"I am not Hiroshi's soldier! What use will I serve outside my home?"

Asami shrugged her shoulders, and offered Korren the red clothing again. "Please, just change. We can wait together."

"I don't want to wait!" He snapped. "There has to be reason behind this and I need to know it,_ now_. There is too much to be done to just sit around and _wait._"

"I'm sorry-"

"Take me to Hiroshi!"

"No one will take you to see him!" She said back, nervously. "Not while you're this angry. Their job is to protect him and with your power who knows what might happen. Now please undress, there's water on your dresser so you can clean up a bit. Calm down and someone will take you. I promise."

Korren huffed, realizing then that it had been days since he last undressed. Breathing was getting harder with the tightness of his binder becoming more and more noticeable.

It wasn't much of an option anymore. He had to take it off, even if it was just for a moment. The binder was made from leather and straps that tightened everything in place. It was better than most, he learned after trial and error, but still it wasn't meant to be worn without breaks.

"Get out." He said lowly. Asami bent to pick up his clothing then, leaving them on the bed before quickly leaving Korren's presence as he asked. The big metal door slammed as she closed it.

"I'll wait here," her muffled voice said. Korren huffed again waiting an agonizing minute to be sure before tearing off his clothing until he was in nothing but his underwear and binder.

Slowly, he began to unclasp it.

The leather of the binder peeled away from where it stuck on, with drying blood acting as a paste, to Korren's skin. It fell to the ground with a few tears in the sides from where he had been injured during his last battle. Yet, skin underneath, though soaked in blood held nothing more than a few scratches and some deep scars from where he'd been wounded in previous battles.

He tried to breathe as much as he could as he cleaned. Breathing was never easy when he wore it, but after years, it became a matter to be ignored. He could breathe as freely as he wanted to when he slept. During the day, in order to be himself, he had to give up something.

He wiped it from the leather of his binder as best he could before putting it back on. It wasn't as long a break as he would have liked, but it would have to do.

It was strange that he didn't so much as feel tired, or weak like he always did after bending earth. Giving that he also lashed out and used fire...he should've felt exhausted, even after the few days he had to rest.

Yet there was no nagging drowsiness that clung on to him. His muscles didn't hurt to flex either. He a bit dizzy from the motion of the ship, but that was all. He felt stronger even, more powerful. Like, if he wanted to, he could go into battle against the entire Northern army and their spirit allies and come out victorious. For the sake of his tribe, he hoped the feeling would last until he settled things with Hiroshi and made it home once more.

He scorned at the red clothing Asami left while shrugging back on his blue clothing. It was all dirty and bloody and torn up in odd places, like under his arms, and, on his jacket, straight across the back. It wouldn't matter though. He intended to speak to Hiroshi and somehow get back home. Then he'd be free to change into something fresh.

Asami had her back to the door when he finally emerged, but she turned around and greeted him with a smile that didn't last longer than a second or two. "Oh." She said simply. "Your clothes…"

"I'm not giving Hiroshi the satisfaction of seeing me dressed in red." The man had enough satisfaction with simply getting him here. Korren wouldn't give him anymore.

"I would've had your clothes washed...and sewn…" She pointed out sticking her fingers through one of the smaller holes that lingered by the hem of Korren's jacket. "That way you could wear them freshly again."

"Don't worry about it." He said, pushing past her. The corridor wasn't bright, the walls were dark metal, lightened by a few dim red bulbs that hung from the ceilings. There was a brighter light coming from both ends, though that didn't aid Korren in knowing which way would lead him to the Fire Lord.

_What a coward, _Korren thought bitterly. _He took me from my home and then hid. _At the very least the fire lord could've been there to face him when he woke; to offer him some sort of explanation. But of course not. The man wouldn't fight for himself if his life depended on it.

"Which way?" He asked Asami, though he knew what she would say before she said it.

"I don't know," Korren didn't want to accept that answer. This was her father's ship and he didn't seem to be around enough to monitor her every move, or even have her watched. She_ had_ to know something. Surely any teenager would have wandered about. The ship can't be that _huge _whereas it would've taken her months to explore every nook and cranny it had to offer. Surely she didn't spend her every minute in her room, or around some table drinking bitter tea. Korren watched her for a moment while he pondered.

Her golden eyes held nothing that hinted at lie, or maybe she was like her grandmother- an incredible liar. It was believable for only a moment, everyone in Azula's family would've had that trait- because no one from their royal family should be trusted. Yet, Asami still seemed like a child in his eyes. Small, protected with innocence and not yet capable of telling a lie. Perhaps all she inherited from her grandmother was the golden eyes and pale skin.

Korren scoffed as he decided she was credible, at least for the moment. "He spends his mornings with his women right?"

Asami nodded, "Yes, though his room and mine are separated, and I don't know where exactly-" _Of course not_, Korren's frown deepened. "Besides," Asami finished, "It's not morning. It's late noon about. If you find him, he'll probably be drunk, or talking business with men. He won't see you until he's ready."

"Fine." He said. "Then, do you know how to get above deck?"

Asami nodded, "It isn't wise to go looking for him," Right. Korren noted. _She went right. You go right to get above deck. _"He'll be angry."

"It wasn't wise for him to take me from my home." Korren still had many reasons to fear the anger of the fire lord, after all, the last time the man got angry with him, he set ablaze Korren's tribe, yet the fear didn't make him cringe as it did the days before. He wanted answers, and he would get them by any means.

"Even if you were awake, he wouldn't have let you stay." Asami pointed out. "You would've been here regardless. One way or another he would've gotten you here. You're a bender, Prince, you serve him whether you like it or not."

It was law Asami was reciting to him, Korren knew. Fire Nation law. Ever since the end of the hundred year war all benders were to be treated like servants to the fire nation- the royal family especially. The Water Tribes had managed to escape the worst of it, but there were still times the fire nation came looking for what they felt was due to them. Those times they took any bender they found fit and with their army so much stronger than the rest, there was hardly anything to be done.

It was a kindness Hiroshi did by offering Korren a marriage to his daughter rather than servantry. Either way though, Korren was doomed to serve him.

The smell of salt and seawater became stronger as they traveled closer to the deck. And soon a soft glow of sunlight illuminated Asami's face. Someone held an a hand out as she got closer and helped steady her as she walked up. It was a guard that helped her, all dressed in red and black. No mask though and for some reason Korren found that strange. His dark hair combed neatly back and stayed in an odd stiff sort of way. He had pale skin like hers and golden eyes that were only a shade deeper than that of the royal family's.

"Thank you, Mako." Asami said quietly.

"Of course," Then the guard turned to Korren, giving him an empty look before stepping aside and bowing. "And Prince Korren."

Korren grumbled. So they were being formal to him, that meant Hiroshi wasn't intending to hold him prisoner - at least not violently.

"Prince, This is Mako. He's one of my father's favorites." Mako rose from his bow, and stood stiffly at his post once more. Korren spared him a glance and nothing more before walking away.

There was nothing but water surrounding them. No land of any sort could be seen off in the distance. He had never been this far away from his home before. There wasn't even any ice in the water. At the sight of nothingness his stomach turned, and filled with panic. The strong smell of salt lingered about him, and for a moment he felt as though he would vomit again.

Still, it probably wasn't a complete loss. He was a waterbending master surrounded by water. He had everything he needed to bring the fire lord groveling to his knees if needed.

"He isn't here," Asami said. "He'll be up here later, I'm sure," she said quickly reassuring him. "How about you eat something until then?"

Asami was only trying to be kind, but still Korren couldn't do much but frown. The distance offered him nothing about which way they were traveling from. He felt stuck, and that in turn made him angry.

"We'll wait here," he said bitterly, "Unless _Mako_ knows where I can find him."

"He wouldn't tell you if he did." Mako gave Korren a glare at the sound of his name, but didn't speak a word.

Asami suddenly grabbed his arm and said her goodbyes to Mako as she retreated below deck again. This time Asami pulled him until they reached a room.

It was large enough to resemble a grand hall, and certainly didn't match the warlike decor of the rest of the ship. Everything was some form of golden or brown and seemed expensive and fine. Even the walls had curtains that were heavy and thick and deep brown.

No one else was in the room, except a few women dressed like maids, Korren determined them to have little importance since Asami didn't even pay them a smile, and two guards that stood at the door.

She sat Korren down in one of the seats and then sat across from him, a shy smile plastered on her face.

"When my mother and I travel, this is our favorite room." She said looking about with a childish excitement. "You see, it's quiet. You can't even hear the splash of water against the ship. We come here and drink tea and talk."

Korren tapped his foot out of annoyance and impatience. He reminded himself to attempt to stay calm. Asami was a lot younger than he was after all. So, perhaps she'd didn't quite grasp the seriousness of his situation- or truly understand his anger.

"And why, now of all times, do you believe I'd want to see this?" Her small smile became a bit smaller at his tone.

"Well, because you're angry, and you won't get what you want if you stay angry. So take a minute and calm down. We can talk if you want, the way mother and I talk when we come here."

Korren took a deep breath and slouched back in his seat. In a way, Asami was right. Hiroshi would hide himself forever if he didn't feel safe. Korren had to calm down a little before anyone would even attempt to talk to him about Hiroshi- or just not show how angry he truly was.

Asami sat back as well, seemingly the most relaxed she's ever been with him. She would look at him sometimes, though most of the time her eyes just roamed around the room as though it was her first time in it.

Korren wondered if she was lying about being in here with her Mother, if maybe she had just known there was a room like this somewhere close and dragged him into it. Still nothing about her said she could lie as easily as her family could. For that reason Korren accepted with few doubts the story he was told and closed his eyes.

He wondered about his mother- if she was okay. Senna was probably going gray with worry at the moment. She could cry a lot over nothing, Korren could only image how many oceans she was filling at this very moment. She was probably hurt- because she never let anyone touch him without a fight and that usually landed her in some tough positions. Or maybe she was cleaning his room. Korren could imagine her moving slowly about his room as she always did with a runny nose and red eyes- though no matter how much she tried his room never stayed as spotless as she wanted it to. It was too small, everything was clustered together. Once he marries Asami she'll nag him about that even more.

He'll need to move somewhere bigger for her. Somewhere that was more like a house and less like a large tent. Asami would need that if she intended to be a good wife. And he'll need somewhere more appropriate to live if he was to call himself chief.

The council was probably in chaos now as well. They were never good together as a whole without guidance. His Father was good at calming them down in times of tribulation, like now, so that they could get things done. Korren wasn't like his father. The council hardly ever wanted to listen to him, but at the very least things were accomplished- eventually.

Now, they were probably being rash as they always were. Threatening to leave and go north or perhaps threatening war with the fire nation. Korren sighed deeply. He needed to get back as soon as possible. To guide them. The tribe needs him.

And Hiroshi, damn him. What was he planning anyways? Was the wedding with Asami still to happen? Of course it was- Hiroshi wouldn't trust Korren so near his daughter if it wasn't. And Asami hadn't said anything that would indicate otherwise. So why? Why take him from his home? Why go through all that trouble?

He didn't feel any more relaxed than he was before when he opened his eyes again. There was a woman pouring tea in front of him. Her face filled red when she noticed Korren's eyes on her and she quickly finished and dashed away, disappearing into a connected room.

"It's Jasmine," Asami said, taking a sip from her own cup. Korren eyed the tea skeptically, not trusting it after the last cup he shared with Hiroshi. "It's good, I promise."

"You promise a lot," Korren pointed out lifting the cup to his lips. Asami was right, it was nothing like the bitter cup Hiroshi served him. It was sweet and calming and somehow reminded him of the cups his mother made for him.

"Do you feel better now?" She asked softly. Korren nodded though it was lie. He was more worried than he was before. However, Asami wouldn't use what little power she had to help him if she knew that.

"I know he doesn't tell you much, but do you have any idea when I might be able to go home?"

Asami pondered the question for a moment while circling the tip of her finger around the brim of her cup. "Well, maybe he'll let you go after you complete your training. But that could take years."

Korren huffed. "What if I don't want to be trained?"

Asami gave Korren a pitiful frown, her golden eyes going softer, "You don't have much of a choice really."

"And he won't consider my people? He won't change his mind so I can go lead them?"

"He wouldn't leave them to fend for themselves. He's probably left someone temporarily in charge until we make it to the Fire nation, then he'll send someone more official." Korren's heart was ready to burst from his chest. The last thing his people needed now was someone from the fire nation ordering them around. It's what Korren promised wouldn't happen to them. If they hadn't completely given up on him before Korren was certain they had now.

"Any ideas as to who?"

Asami shook her head. "I mostly know names, not positions. That would be wrong of me."

Korren groaned. Of course it would be wrong. She was a child, not mention a girl as well. She had no business in knowing anything about war or armies. That lack of knowledge at the moment, however, wasn't doing Korren any good.

"Can I ask what you plan to do when you see him? You wouldn't attack him, would you?" Asami gave him a smile that didn't fit the question asked, as though she was hoping Korren's answer would be yes.

"I'll do whatever I need to."

Asami nodded and even seemed to be giggling softly as she lifted her cup back to her lips. "Right."

"And you... Can I ask you a question?"

"You don't have to ask…"

"Why was I left in your care? If Hiroshi fears me so damn much, why wouldn't he have guards posted around me, rather than leave me with his precious daughter?"

Asami laughed then. It was soft and low and oddly carefree considering the words that followed, "Does it seem as though my father cares much about me?"

The words made Korren frown. Hiroshi offered his only child to a stranger from a tribe who wanted her dead- obviously unyielding love wasn't what he felt for her. "Well…"

"It's okay. He just didn't want you to feel threatened. You don't, do you?"

"I'm stiff with fear," Korren responded drily. Laughing didn't seem appropriate, but Asami's laughter didn't feel out of place somehow. It didn't exactly calm all of Korren's worries down, but for a moment he forgot she was the daughter of the man who ultimately kidnapped him and was possibly terrorizing his tribe at the moment. The last thing he should be doing was getting too comfortable with her- whether she was to be his wife or not.

Asami's laugh slowed, and dwindled to nothing but redness in her cheeks when she realized Korren was staring at her. She cleared her throat before speaking again. Suddenly the air was stiff as Asami became the quiet, tentative little girl Korren met again. "If you feel better, would you perhaps consider going back to your room to change? Dinner will be soon, and you should wear something fresh, don't you think?"

-X-

Dinner was served around a long table, that stretched straight across the room it was in. Every seat had a dish, though it was only Asami and Korren who occupied the room- and a few unimportant attendants who wouldn't be joining them.

They sat next to each other, looking much like a pair made to match in the Fire Nation. Asami clad one of her red dresses that hid her feet and hung teasingly off her shoulders. Her hair fell in fresh bouncy waves down her waist, it seems she had done her makeup and everything simply to eat- which Korren didn't quite understand.

And Korren next to her, reluctantly in a loose fitting red and brown attire that hung sloppy from him. His own hair fell into his face in a mess of soft knots he didn't bother to comb out. He wore a frown to go with his red where Asami was smiling a little, seemingly happy to be his company.

Still, they seemed to belong in the dim red room, the large table, bathed in a soft glow of orange light from a fire.

Korren slouched, and grimaced, being able to do nothing more for the moment. "You eat by yourself?" He grumbled, having noted the Fire Lord's absence. Dinner felt awfully lonely. He was so used to eating with his parents every night, and maybe someone from the council would drop by a join them to speak with his father. It was always chatty, even when it was just him and his mother. Still, the rooms in his home weren't big, so small company felt large. This was odd. It was so still and quiet with just him and Asami who talked, but still probably wouldn't say much more than what she felt was appropriate for a lady.

"Most of the time." Asami answered with a smile. "Father doesn't like it when I'm around his men and not serving them. So I eat first, and then leave them to get drunk after. Besides, I don't like the way they look at me."

Korren's frown deepened. "So he'll arrive eventually then?"

Asami nodded. "He should. Can you wait a while?"

"I've been waiting for hours!" he hissed back.

Suddenly the doors bursted open, and the silence of the room was interrupted by the sound of deep laughter and heavy feet. Asami stiffened, her face going stoic, while Korren bared his teeth in a growl and stood.

Hiroshi stumbled in first, clearly drunk and happy off his ass. _How smug of him._ Korren thought bitterly.

"Haha!" Korren's face screwed at the sound."There he is! There's my favorite waterbender- oh! Or maybe I should call you something more appropriate?" He laughed until his small fat face was as red as his robes. He stumbled over and rested a heavy hand on Korren's shoulder. "Doesn't he look good in red?"

His men all seemed to agree, as they took their seats. "He looks like he should've been born your boy," one commented.

"Looks better than he did in blue." Another laughed. A few more made idle commentary that Korren wasn't in any mood to react to, the rest had their attention set on Asami, though her head was buried in her plate and hair was hiding her face.

Korren tried hard not to do anything rash. After all, the fire lord still held the map to his freedom, and the lives of his people in the same hand. One wrong move would mess it all up. Still, it boiled his blood to see the fat tiny man laughing so carelessly while knowing what he'd done.

Without giving it another thought Korren grabbed him by his neck and easily slammed him down into the table.

The suddenness of it made Asami jump and stand, but as she tried to back away she found herself caught in the arms of one of Hiroshi's men. He hugged her from behind drunkenly, asked her why she was leaving so soon.

"I'll kill you!" Korren swore, flashing his glare to Hiroshi's men as well. "_All _of you!" While their laughing dwindled only slightly, none of them seemed afraid of him.

Hiroshi struggled to laugh, his face was beginning to resemble a tomato. Surprisingly no one jumped in to pry Korren off of Hiroshi. Perhaps it was the alcohol that clouded their judgement and made them forget it was Korren they all witness kill an entire army of Northern spirits. Or perhaps they just didn't value Hiroshi's life enough to interfere between them.

"Let...go." Hiroshi choked out. Korren growled and squeezed tighter.

"Why am I here? Why am I not with my people? What did you do?" he demanded. Blood was beginning to leak from Hiroshi's neck and down his robes from where Korren had his nails. With another angry growl Korren punched him in the face and let him go so he could scurry away like a frightened vermin.

Hiroshi's nose and neck were both bleeding, but he was still smug enough to attempt a laugh. "You're angry." He said. "That was expected, so therefore, I'll forget this little incident. Why don't you have a seat, and I'll explain it to you?"

Korren desperately wanted to punch him again, but it would accomplish nothing, so instead he glared at Hiroshi, his fist balled up at his sides. "I'm done waiting Hiroshi! Take me back-"

He was cut off by Hiroshi's irritating laughing. Hiroshi shook his head and took a seat at the head of the table. "Oh, no. You won't be going back, Prince. Not for a while anyways."

Korren's fist noticeably tightened, making Hiroshi shift uncomfortably in his seat. "You wouldn't kill the man offering you a throne, now would you Prince? How uncivilized are they in the Water Tribes?"

Korren scoffed and pulled out a seat near him. "Let her go," He demanded, turning his attention to the thick bearded man who held Asami like she was a whore in his hands. The man didn't hesitate to release Asami, as though it was Hiroshi himself who made the order. Asami frowned and brushed out her dress until it was straight again as though to wipe him off her.

It was Asami he let sit in seat he pulled, while he stood behind her like a shield. "Now, explain!" he snarled.

Hiroshi watched him with a humor in his eyes and simply shrugged his shoulders. "You treat her like she was born yours, don't you?" The comment made the men laugh, getting them rowdy again.

They banged on the table making it shake, demanding sake and any type of liquor the maids had to offer.

"That isn't what I want to hear and you know it!" Korren snapped. "Tell me why I'm here!"

"Well, it isn't it obvious?" Hiroshi laughed. "A man of your particular gifts has no place being in the Water Tribes. You should've been born Fire Nation. What good will the water tribes make of you?"

"Having you run around after them when it should be the other way around." One of his men laughed. "Imagine Hiroshi serving his people rather than his people serving him- doesn't make any sense, right?"

"You're a smart boy, you understand it don't you Korren? The world hasn't seen someone like you since the hundred year war. And regretfully, Aang wasn't an ideal...what was the word they called them? _-__Avatar_." Hiroshi said the world with a smile, as though the world still thought of Avatars as superior beings.

Korren scoffed. "I don't think of myself as an _Avatar. _To be honest I didn't think that word still meant anything. You're wasting your time. I won't serve you any good outside my home so take me back."

"It doesn't matter how you see yourself." Hiroshi's laugh was beginning to turn into a frown at Korren's disobedience. "I want to make sure nothing goes wrong with you- that way you don't end up like Aang before you. Think about how much better life will be for you, you'll get to travel all over the world like the Avatars once did. You'll get to train and become strong enough to rule over both water tribes and the fire empire after me. This might be the answer to the war you can't seem to end. Your tribe would never do this for you. Don't you want it?"

Korren was tempted to hit the man again. How ridiculous of him to think that Korren would really want to choose that over going home and looking after his own people. Still, the idea of ending the war sounded tempting, but at what cost?

Korren huffed his response, "When will I get to go home?" His mind lingered to his mother again. He was sure Hiroshi hadn't left her with a pleasant goodbye and an 'I'll take good care of your boy'.

"I expect that you'll want to visit, and when the time comes, we'll talk about it."

Korren sighed, "I'm not agreeing to this. I don't expect a man like you to understand. I have duties to them."

"And all will be taken care of. After all, they are like family now. I wouldn't leave them to die."

Korren knew better than to trust Hiroshi's word, but trapped on a ship there wasn't much he could about it- without being rash and killing the man at least.

"I don't want to go," he said bitterly.

"Best to get it over with. When we reach the Fire Nation, you'll marry Asami, and your training will start."

-X-

The air above deck was freezing, but nothing Korren wasn't used to. Still, it wasn't as cold as the days he spent in his home. Silently he had been wondering how far away they had reached. He had never gone further than the Northern Border, and now he was going to a whole new Nation all together.

"He knew what I was from the start, didn't he?" Korren asked. Asami seemed surprised Korren even approached her. She was sitting in a chair, all alone, a jar of sake she was serving to Hiroshi's men who gathered in a bunch to laugh and tell stories in the moonlight was her companion.

She sat up right when he sat beside her, pulling a red cloak around her shoulders tighter. "I don't think he knows everything about you, but that- he suspected. It hard to believe, if someone had told you there was a new avatar living a chief's son in southern water tribe after nearly one hundred years, would you believe them?"

Korren pondered the question for a moment before finally shaking his head. "No."

"See...He had to check. It just turns out that you were also said to be very strong for man- a good leader. He couldn't risk war with a man like you in fear that if you fought back- you'd win. So he offered you me instead. I think he truly wants peace between the Fire Nation and Water tribe, but by his terms."

Korren frowned and stared down into the white sake in his cup, "Why didn't you tell me if you knew?"

"It would've been out of place." Korren couldn't disagree with that, it wasn't Asami's place to out her father's true intentions when her loyalty hadn't yet been set to Korren.

"Fine...what now?"

Asami smiled shyly. "I go home, and we get married."

"You're happy about it?" Korren raised an eyebrow at her. She seemed so frightened when they first met and now here she was smiling as she spoke of their future.

"I'm happy to go home. I missed my mother. She-" A mountain of laughter erupted from the men, cutting Asami short of her sentence.

Korren threw a disgusted scowl in their direction, as though to punish them for cutting Asami off. "She was sad to see you go?" Asami nodded, "Well of course. What mother wouldn't be? Sending their only child off to marry some stranger."

"It wasn't that. She wasn't upset about that part. She knew it would come, she told me so, that one day I'd have to marry to a man I didn't know, like she had to. She was upset about where I was going..."

Korren frowned as Asami stood, seemingly ready for bed. She gave Korren a large smile as she finished up. "Many people will be excited to have you in the Fire Nation, Prince. You'll be sort of famous, and it's okay to be ravished by it, just don't expect her to be one of your many fans." With that, She told him goodnight and disappeared in the dim red lights below deck.

* * *

**Long chapter. Hehe. Huge Thanks to my Beta, Cookie, as always she helped me edit and stuff. **

**I really hope you guys liked this chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait, Both Cookie and I are excited for the next chapter so you guys should be too. :D **

**Please leave a me a thought! **

**More soon**

**Till next time **

***Flies away* **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- Avatar Korren**

_Winter festivals were the few times of the year Korren felt as though he could relax, breathe and enjoy nothing but the scenery for a little while. It was always held when the Northerners had their moment of silence to pray or worship their oh-so-beloved chief and his son or whatever it was they did when they quieted down. Korren wasn't very interested in knowing, for all he cared they could've been weeping about their series of defeats, cursing his name to their spirits._

_Festivals were a time to get drunk and dance, listen to the elders curse about how Korren always stole all the women when it came to these things, because he could move his feet well when he danced. It was the one time they preferred him to the other men and that was only because he wouldn't step on their toes, or accidentally pull on their hair or something silly like that that the other men always did. It was a time to tell stories to the women and child with the other men hooting him on as he boasted and bragged and praised their name, crushing the north with his every word._

_Only this year it wasn't. He wasn't even sure why they were even having a festival. The last Northern attack was only too recently for anyone to proclaim them quiet. Not to mention his southern brothers suffered a great loss with their last attack. For the first time they couldn't match the strength of the North, and that alone should have put them in a state of unrest. There was no doubt in Korren's mind the Northern Chief knew of their worry and was only going to grow bolder._

_He was on his toes as he watched the children run about, carefree and innocent. People were laughing and drinking as though there was nothing to worry about and that only made Korren more anxious. His grip tightened around the handle of his sword, which hung in it's scabbard at his waist. He shouldn't have it at the festival. He knew that, but he brought it anyways, because someone had to be sort of ready should the Northern creatures suddenly just appear._

_It was silly to be so nervous, he knew, but it couldn't be helped. In the middle of the dance floor he saw his parents, Chief Tonraq and his beloved wife, Senna, dancing in a rather intimate moment. They were both clad in the same snow white as Korren was, because that the color the Chief and his family wore to these events. People from all around the tribe would be coming to greet them, perhaps for the first time. White was pure, and easy to distinguish from all the rest of the blue._

_Korren rocked on his feet as he watched them. Senna was laughing as she clung to Tonraq. He picked her up and spun her, his smile brighter than Korren had seen in a long time. They look happy together, he noted. They haven't looked that happy in each other's presence since Korren was a child. Tonraq was a chief and was always stressed about something. Senna was always worrying after her boys and after years of doing so it marked her face in unpleasant ways. After a while they drifted apart, but Korren figured that's what happens in marriage. Its why men like Griff had about three different wives. A new one to run to after the others drifted away._

_Korren couldn't understand it. At a time like this Tonraq usually would have dragged him off with Griff, Barse and Tomare to discuss battle plans. If they left the council hut at all they'd be forced to return just hours later. Tonraq normally took times like this seriously. The last thing he would approve of is a festival as grand and large as this one. Much less participate in it. Still, Korren couldn't deny what he was watching: His father lean down to kiss his mother gently on the lips while she blushed and shied from him._

_"Prince," Arika's voice frightened him from his stare. She smiled at him innocently, swaying her hands back and forth until they landed on his and tightened. "What's that look?"_

_"What look?" He hadn't meant it to sound as harsh as it did. Arika didn't seem to mind his mean demeanor and copied his face as best she could, scrunching up her nose and eyes until she looked older than she was and bitter._

_"This look," She said. "What's this look mean? I've never seen that one before."_

_Korren scoffed and pulled his hand away. "I do not look like that."_

_Arika gave him a sigh and long drawn out, "Riiiiight. Do you want to talk about it?" Her arms slide from his hands and around his waist. She drew herself closer without permission and gave him a smile he knew too well._

_"Talk?" He questioned. Arika and him haven't had a 'talk' since he was...perhaps thirteen or fourteen… They she was a child and perhaps a bit more curious than she should have been at that age. Korren never complained; Arika was one of the only girls willing to be with him. Soon though, he too became busy to see her often and their shenanigans ended quickly without a word of it to anyone else. Korren went off to fight in the war and Arika married._

_Why was she suddenly bringing that back up? And in public nonetheless._

_"Lets talk," She drawled out a bit seductively, pulling on Korren's arm. "About whatever you want I promise."_

_Korren frowned and pulled from her. "Did my father mention why we're having this festival to your husband perhaps?"_

_"My husband?" Arika raised an eyebrow at him. "Um-"_

_"I don't think he'd speak of it with you, but it just seems weird. We should be preparing for battle now. Making up for the lost men...don't you think?"_

_Arika laughed, shaking her head. "Prince, have you had too much to drink tonight maybe?"_

_"What?"_

_"What battle are you speaking of?" Arika laugh began to turn hysteric. "Look around you, we're in a time of peace. We have been for a while now. How could you forget so soon?"_

_"Forget…"_

_Korren blinked. The scene around him was oddly peaceful...fun even. Women were dancing with their partners. Teenagers ran off to kiss in secret. Children played. In some corners men huddled off to tell stories and whistle after women together. It was what normal would've been if there wasn't a war they were bound to lose if they didn't prepare for it knocking on their doorstep._

_"What about the Fire Nation- and the marriage-"_

_Arika shook her head. "I'm going to tell Tonraq his son has gone mad." She joked. "The Fire Nation hasn't visited in forever. Peace, Korren. We're in a time of peace."_

_"But-"_

_"No buts!" She quirked, pulling him on the dancefloor and placing his hands at her waist. "Relax and dance with me."_

_Korren's head was fogged as he moved, but he went along with it anyways, because in this he seemed to have no choice._

_The sky above them was a pitch black. Starless. Moonless. Threatened by thick clouds that meant it would snow sometime soon. There was something very ominous about that promise of snow at this particular moment, but Korren had no time to think about it because soon all he could focus on was how soft Arika's lips felt moving against his. They were a bit cold, but her tongue was warm, and soft and sensual. She kissed Korren like he was hers, and as though she had no husband to worry of catching them._

_It was all so wrong, but Korren couldn't seem to pull himself from it._

_Not even when heavy stomps shook the ground beneath them and the rotten smell of the Northern creatures filled the air._

_Arika pulled away giggling. Her cheeks tinted red as she stared at him. "You know, now is where you say you'll marry me."_

_Korren frowned and let her go, pulling his sword defensively from his waist._

_He was the only one though. No one else seemed alarmed by the the stomping that grew nearer and the stench that threatened to stifle them._

_His father still danced with his mother. Men were still calling at girls. Women were still dancing with their husbands. Not even the music was disturbed by the vibrations that should have interrupted the beat._

_Suddenly there they were. Standing before him with saliva dripping from their oddly shaped, toothless mouths. Their four arms folded over on the ground beneath their feet. Their large yellow eyes focused on him._

_No one became alarmed, no one so much as watched him._

_He couldn't move. His body burned as he felt his flesh tear away and new limbs grew from the gaping holes. There was a foul taste in his mouth, metallic like blood and rancid like bad meat._

_Suddenly his mother was crying over him, her hands quickly becoming stained with his blood and yellow liquid that gushed from a hole in his chest, but soon she stopped and fell limp atop him as well. He was too distraught to understand what was truly happening, but he heard screams, and the crunch of things breaking, like bones, and boards from homes._

_Asami's scream was loudest, the most shrill of them all and it was that one that caught his attention, prompting his body to jolt upright and- _

"Prince," Asami's voice was soft and a bit muffled from behind his door. Still, it lilted with worry as she called his name. She knocked again, louder, more urgent this time. Korren woke at the sound, quickly jumping from his bed a bit disgruntled to put on his binder and a shirt which lingered on the floor by his bed.

"What is it?" He grunted out, opening the door. Asami looked as tired as she did worried. Her hair disheveled in curly knots and her night dress and robe both hung from her shoulders. One hand clutched the fabric of her black and golden robe together at her chest, less in an effort of modesty as it was she needed something to do with that hand and fidgeting was not appropriate. The other was still fisted and up in a position for knocking. Quickly she dropped it and hid it behind her back.

"You were weeping..." She stated. "I figured you-" She stopped speaking when Korren frowned, intimidated and afraid he might grow angry. "Sorry." She finished lamely.

It was still dark in the corridor where she stood. The only lights were dim and red, no bright lights of day came from the ends. _It's still early _Korren determined. Asami shivered where she stood, perhaps cold as her feet were bare and the thin material of her robe and night dress would do little to shield against the slight chill in the air. It wouldn't have taken her long to turn around and go back to her own room. Hiroshi kept them close together, thinking Asami would work well in distracting the prince, keeping his anger at bay until they reached the fire nation.

Rather than leave, Asami stood there, waiting for him to speak if he should. A remorseful look was filling her face, as though she was beginning to regret her decision of checking on him.

He would have rathered she leave him be. It wasn't a nice thing to see her face first in the morning. She reminded him he wasn't home, that he was sitting around doing nothing while he should be a chief to his people. As a result, he ignored her often, preferring to spend his time locked in his room. And if he left at all it was by force and those time he wasn't pleasant to be around.

He was rough and prone to get angry over things Asami deemed small. His anger was well placed though- since he never really wanted to be there and the men he was forced to be around didn't exactly show their admiration for him in the best way. Over the few days he spent on the ship he managed to get into three fights with Hiroshi's men, usually because they said something stupid. Two of which ended in blood being spilled over the floors of the dining hall and three men having to be pulled out of the room because they were beaten till they couldn't walk anymore. The other ended with Hiroshi stepping in between the prince and the man he was ready to kill, laughing it off as a silly quarrel between men.

Asami learned to stay out of his line of fire quickly. He never yelled at her, or touched her, but didn't exactly speak as sweetly to her as he did when they first met either.

The more days that passed the angrier he seemed to become and the further Asami stayed from him.

"I'm fine." He deadpanned. "It was a stupid dream…no cause for alarm." He shook his head, shaking away thoughts of how badly the tribe must've been coping with the aftermath and the fire nation.

Asami released a breath, her hands loosening from her robe as she relaxed. Korren didn't sound as angry with her as he looked.

"I don't sleep well on water either." She admitted. _It has nothing to do with the water, _Korren thought to say, but to him it seemed a bit pathetic. A man like him shouldn't be having nightmares, especially not after being raised the way he had. But nights here were cripplingly quiet. There were no sounds of snow pletting on his roof to distract him. No stray polarbear dogs howling in the distance. No heavy breeze rattling his windows.

From his room he couldn't even hear the sounds of water against the ship or the howl of the wind. It was getting harder to sleep without ale or some other form of liquor. And even that proved a terrible solution because all Hiroshi had was Fire Nation wines and sake. They burned Korren's throat and left his head spinning when he woke and didn't really help in blurring his thoughts for long after he drank. Still, it was a better option than being left alone in the quiet with his thoughts of worry and frustration.

Korren thought for a long moment, staring at the princess as she stood there awkwardly. With a sigh he slid the door open wider for her, "If you can't sleep...then you can come in."

Asami looked at him in surprise, unsure of how to respond to his offer. He didn't blame her, he wasn't sure why he offered either. Perhaps he was still drunk, and his head was fogged. Or maybe he was just that desperate for someone to speak to so he wouldn't have to attempt to go back to sleep.

What did it matter anyways? Asami was his gift from Hiroshi. His to do as he pleased, marriage or not Hiroshi wasn't interested in taking Asami back. He made no use of her until now.

Asami was in his room just a second later, sitting on his bed and waiting for some form of instruction. With a grunt he shut his door behind him and went to pour two glasses of fire ale from a set that rested on his dresser.

Asami only stared at hers, uninterested in drinking. She seemed uneasy more than anything else, and shifted under the Prince's gaze.

"I was hoping-" She stopped as quickly as she started. A small frown forming on her face.

"If you want to speak, then speak," Korren prompted. "I'm not going to put a woman across my knee for speaking!"

Asami huffed, and didn't look at him. "-hoping that you would wait...until we married…" Korren made a face, catching on quickly. It was all he could do to remain stoic and not laugh at the princess and her worries of his intention. "My mother would lock me in my room, and poison you if she so much as knew we've been alone together. Imagine what she'd think of-"

"I'm not going to ask you to undress." Korren took a sip of his ale. It burned and weighed heavy on his tongue for a moment before he swallowed it. "I'm not too interested in having sex with Hiroshi's daughter."

Asami's face quickly filled with red. "Sorry-"

"Don't apologize for it. If I were in your position I would've have thought the same thing. A man inviting a young woman into his room. And for what? A glass of ale and a conversation?" Korren laughed at how ridiculous it sounded being said out loud. Asami didn't laugh along. Instead she stared at him, now widely awake and interested in what he had to say.

"What man doesn't want...am I not pretty enough for you?" Korren shook his head.

"First you were upset, now you're offended. Of course!"

"I'm not offended!" Asami said defensively. "It's just...what man would pass up the opportunity?" She huffed, setting her glass aside to fold her arms and pout. "Men have been trying since I started growing breasts. Then there's you...you don't even look!"

"You're kind of offended…" Korren mumbled humorously.

"You're just odd is all...i'm not offended by it." Finally her frown subsided and she smiled and relaxed into his bed. "I like it about you actually."

Korren had nothing good to say back to that because his reasons for not looking at her were somewhat different from what she believed. Perhaps if he were born like other men he would've, but it was best not let her know that. Instead he sat on the floor with his back against the bed and waited. The alcohol soon numbed his thoughts and his body relaxed as he welcomed it.

"We'll be arriving soon," Asami told him. "My mother will be so happy to see me again…"

Her name was Yasuko, she told him. She was the only grandchild to Fire Lord Azula, and her inability to bend deemed her unfit for the throne. So the day after she first bled they married her off to Hiroshi. Asami was born a few months later.

"She took me everywhere she went. Introduced me nobles and the rich. She pointed at noble boys years older than I was and told me I'd end up marrying one of them so not to make faces because when we lay together that's all they will remember…" Korren didn't find it funny, but Asami laughed as she recalled it. "She won't be happy to meet you, but she will be gracious, because that's the way she is."

"She doesn't know me not to like me!" Korren pointed out. Asami had turned so her head laid by his, and at one point had pulled out the knots in his hair. Now her fingers were entangled in his hair. She laughed as she soothingly ran her fingers back and forth, effectively getting Korren to relax.

"It's not about knowing you, Prince...just like your mother didn't like me. Don't worry. You'll change her mind, I'm sure. I spent all my life preparing to marry someone mean, someone who wouldn't care to sit and speak with me. But I got you..."

Korren smiled into her touch, "We're not too different. I spent my days expecting never to get married at all. But I got you…" He teased back. Asami frowned a little, curiously.

"Weren't you a Chief's boy? Don't you have to marry? To carry on your father's blood? Why did you think-"

"Mm," Korren thought for a moment on how to answer her before he did. "There were a lot of reasons. One of the biggest is that I sort of expected to die in war before I could marry. But if that didn't happen then it was…well, who'd want their daughter married to some earthbending, firebending freak like me?"

He was seven when he first started bending fire. Earth had come first after water, but somehow people were even more outraged and shocked but the sudden appearance of fire erupting from Korren's palms instead of water. It seemed to offend a lot of people and yet again landed his father in a lot of trouble with the elders and the tribe.

His mother was the most upset, perhaps because she got the blame worse than Korren and his father did. After all, she was the one who bared the chief a defective 'son'. She never wanted Korren to know she was angry about it, but it showed none the less. She scorned him for a while, sent him out on useless errands to keep him out of the house. Tonraq was the only one who defended him...like always. The only one who said no when the council wanted to send him out into the woods to die. It took weeks for Senna to grow used to the idea as well. She decided she loved him after Korren knew she thought differently of him.

It was dark days, especially for a seven year old boy as strange as Korren was. He drank the memory away, and leaned into Asami some more, because she was warm, and felt like comfort.

"That's terrible." She said with a smile. "In the Fire Nation, you would've been put on a pedestal. Worshiped as some power spirit perhaps. It's been too long since the world has seen an Avatar. People would've been excited to see what you could do."

"That feels like a lie." He told her. He knew the stories of the last avatar before him. He knew how he was brutally murdered by Ozai The Frightful trying to put an end to the hundred year war. He knew how the Fire Nation despised the poor boy and what they did to his followers. Stories of it ran through his tribe as horror tales, reminders that the Fire Empire were not friends and they could never be allies. That same Nation wanting him back seemed like the biggest joke Korren's ever heard. "Tell me the truth, things wouldn't have been much different. Perhaps all that would've changed was...well...Hiroshi would've gotten his hands on me sooner."

Asami shook her head. "Aang was misguided. Its best to ignore his existence. Mother says he would've made a great ally if he had used his powers like...um...I keep forgetting his name! The Avatar before him was a firebender though. If Aang had used his power like he had… for the benefit of the Fire Nation... then none of that would've happened. But what can you expect from children?" Asami's information sounded wrong somehow, even despite her confident lilt. Korren was told a different story about the _Avatar before Aang_, but he didn't question Asami on what she knew.

Instead Korren said, "His name was Roku." The words flew from his mouth without him realizing until a second later. "I'm not sure how I knew that. No one in my tribe did for damn sure." He laughed, but that was perhaps just the alcohol in his system.

Asami smiled. "They say he lives in you."

"Do you believed them?"

"My mother says he lives in you. I believe my mother."

"If he truly does, then he can fuck off. I never asked for him."

"It isn't something anyone asked for…"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Princess."

Asami quieted, letting Korren have his way without a fight.

Somewhere inside of him there was shame. Shame to be what he was. Shame to know that Aang and Roku both were connected to him in some odd way he couldn't explain. His people would have done anything to have him killed for being associated with them, and for a short time, his mother would've as well.

He could still remember the sounds of Assan's voice telling his father to choose a new name for when he died, because there was no way Korren would ever be a good successor, The children he would bare would all be tainted with his blood and Tonraq's name would be shamed from there on.

Perhaps they were right. Perhaps Korren wasn't meant to be Chief. Suddenly all his life felt wasted. Like he spent it fighting for something impossible. Perhaps that was only truth. That didn't make the journey feel any better though. If anything it worsened the pain in his chest.

Truth was painful. Even if he had stayed, what good would he have done with a tribe who refused to listen him. What if that's what Tonraq thought was as well...in his last moments, did he look at Korren and with the little humanity left inside him decide that who he spent his life fighting for, who he was going to leave in charge was suddenly inadequate.

Korren found it hard to doubt. Looking back, it seems as though he spent his whole life fighting not to be murdered by his own people. If it wasn't one reason, it was another. Korren hardly ever did anything right. What kind of a Chief would he have made? He had worried for Asami when she arrived. Worried that in the short time she was there his people would have found some way to kill her. Guilty by association they would've called it. The Princess would've been burnt for her heritage because that's what the Council's Men laughed about doing to Fire Nation.

Perhaps he wouldn't even have fought for her, because his faults were like Asami's. He believed everything he was told without question. If they were morally right or wrong never crossed his mind. They told him he should be killed for Firebending on water tribe lands, and he believed them.

He was tired, he decided.

Slowly he stood and crawled in bed beside Asami, she welcomed him with open arms, and for once Korren felt like he was meant to be there. Like it was right.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, giggling about sex and something girlish that he wasn't listening to.

He wrapped his arms around her, and told her he was done speaking for the night. That the alcohol had settled and his decisions were made.

He'd go. He go and he wouldn't fuss about it anymore. Not until obligation caught up to him and his guilt settled. Until then he'd give this a try. See how he was meant to grow.

Her robe fell down her shoulders and her skin was warm under his palms. Her lips like fire against his, so different to his last kiss, which was cold because everything in the water tribe was. Asami was warm and melted into him nicely. She felt like how it did to firebend, but there was no shame that followed, no one scorned at him to hide it. He wouldn't have to answer to anyone about why he did it, and if it were necessary afterward.

And perhaps it was the alcohol but that felt so good. Asami moaned when they separated, pulling him back into another kiss because that was her first. She giggled about him tasting bad, and about how soft his lips were against hers, and about not knowing how nice that would feel.

Her mother was going to kill her if she found out, but it was worth the risk. It was, as Asami put it, exhilarating, and soon her breasts fit nicely in his hands, and they kissed and touched and giggled until dawn came, and Asami sleepy kissed his neck one more time before drifting off.

It was weird to look at her there, a woman in his bed, where he thought there would never be one. And Fire Nation at that. He laughed at the thought. One day he would go home, figure things out. But first he would learn firebending unashamed and proudly use it to take the throne from Hiroshi. Then he would have an army big enough to wipe out the entire Northern fleet and their spirit allies. He would be strong enough to rule over both his tribe and the fire nation and no one would ever question whether or not he belongs there.

Because he did. He felt it. He wasn't meant to be chief. He was meant to be Avatar. After all, why else would all this be coming so easily to him.

He cradled Asami against him as he thought of it.

_Avatar_ Korren had a better ring to it than _Chief_ Korren, that was for sure.

* * *

**Okay! Can I just say how much I love this chapter? Just that air of realization and acceptance makes me tingle. Korren kinda deserves it. Oh, the next chapter is gonna be great. :D As always, Huge thanks to my beta, Cookie for being her usual awesome self. Again, sorry this took forever. **

**Leave me a comment letting me know what you think please :) **

**Till next time**

***Flies away* **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- Nobility**

"No, no." Eska said shaking her head gently. "It's much too heavy for my brother. Look, it's almost as big as he is. He will never lift this on his own, much less in the heat of battle." She set the sword down beside Prince Desna where he sat and sure enough the thing was nearly as large as he was, and thick too. It's handle wrapped in dark leather and its blade shined a pure silver. It had no extravagance aside from the fact that it large, clearly made for battle rather than show. Desna could only imagine blood running down from it's perfectly sharpened sides, an image that made him sick.

It certainly did not look heavy, especially not from the way his sister easily wielded it with one hand like she were a man herself. Desna cleared his throat and stood, showing the true difference in size between him and sword. It came up a bit further than his waist, but he was determined not to let that undermine him.

"Might I hold it, Eska? I won't know until I hold it." Eska spun around to look at him with shining red eyes.

She frowned, a darkness growing on her face. "Why might you need to hold it? You have no say in what I decide. Besides, you'll only hurt yourself. It's much too big." The sword made a sharp sound as it scratched against the tile of the floors when Eska picked it back up and rested it effortlessly over her shoulders.

"Father will be upset if you don't let me try."

Eska scoffed, and rolled her eyes at her brother. "Father will be upset should his Prince hurt himself. Sit down, I know what's best for you." She threw the swords back at the blacksmiths. The man, as big as he was, grunted to catch it. "Can you feel the weight there?" The man nodded. "Right, lighten it up for him. Make it smaller. What man wants a sword bigger than he is."

"They say Korren's sword is bigger than man himself." Desna said lowly. "I think how big it is, is fine really…"

"They also say Korren is eight feet tall," The blacksmith shared a chuckle with Eska. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear Prince. Southerners exaggerate much of their strength. Here, practice with this. You'll grow into a heavier sword when you're older, let your sister handle these things for now."

He handed the Prince a wooden one. It was small, and carried very little weight with it, perhaps because it was hollow. Still, Desna shook to hold it, even with both hands. "It feels...silly." Desna admitted. The men his age were already practicing with real, actual swords, if not going off to join his Father's army or stand guard at the borders. Not him though, no, the honor of being trained and favored went to his sister. But she would not be joining the army, no, his father said that was his job and while it was important, Eska's duties were a bit _more _important than his. He was reminded every time she looked at him. Her red in her eyes where there was once blue sent shivers down his spine.

To be holding something they usually gave to children angered him some, but it was not something he could show, not while Eska watched him so intently anyways. He was sure she'd run and tell their father to have him wait another year before sending him off if he showed any signs of weakness.

"I'll have to have a talk with your trainer again, it's like he's teaching you nothing." She said, referring to his stance, which did not meet her standards. "Silly or not, it's what you need right now. Mm, would you prefer practicing with me from now on, Prince."

Desna's face screwed at the suggestion. "No! That's fine. Nori is doing fine job. I-I like working with him."

"Working with him is not getting you anywhere. It certainly won't get you in the army."

"She's right," The blacksmith said. "If that's the way he taught you to stand-"

"It's not!" Desna said lowering the sword, quickly. His face going red.

"Then you're mocking him…"

"No-"

"Nevermind it," Eska said, turning back to the blacksmith. "Father will agree with me if your evaluation doesn't go well this week. Don't worry brother, it's for the best. You'll have to face the southerners at some point."

-X-

"Lets see it!" Their father clapped when Eska pulled her sword from its sheath. It was long and slim, a simple black everything. Yet in it gleamed in the light carrying with it a dark, ominous essence. Desna stared up at it for a long while, attempting to convince himself there was nothing impressive about it. It was just a sword, meant for killing. The last thing it needed to be was pretty, but their father looked at it in awe anyways.

"I wanted it wrapped in red leather, to match my spirit, but the blacksmith said that this fit me better. _The only thing red should be yours eyes and their blood_, he said. It looks amazing, doesn't it."

"It's wonderful." Yuu, Eska's wife, grinned. Swiftly Eska turned on her heels and pointed the tip of the sword at her neck, enough to ghost over her skin, but not break it. Desna didn't doubt for a second Eska wouldn't hesitate to cut her throat open at the table. But Yuu only laughed, raising her eyebrow suggestively. "Are you going to do it or are you just teasing me?"

Eska's teeth shined when she smiled. For a long second Desna expected her to lunge her arm forward and spill her wife's blood over the table. But she never did. Instead she handed the sword to her father, where he tested its weight.

"You get off on her threatening to kill you?" Desna questioned. Yuu's eyes were a pale blue and almost as cold as his sister's. She hardly ever paid him attention when she didn't have to. This was a time when she owed him no pleasantries, but she shrugged, stroking the spot where Eska's sword would've killed her.

"What do you know of sex, Prince?" When she received no reply she cocked her side to the side arrogantly. "Nothing? Then you ought to keep your mouth shut about those things, hmm?"

"I thought you would've gone for something heavier!" His father's voice interrupted. He tossed Eska's sword from hand to hand, to show how effortlessly it could be done. "You will gain no strength from this thing, as pretty as it is."

"She will gain no strength from a heavier one just the same. She will never use it!"

His father pondered for a moment before speaking, "That's true, but she will practice with it. It doesn't hurt to practice."

"Weaponry is meant for men…" Desna mumbled, earning a hard glare from Yuu.

"Then why don't you show us how it's done, Prince, since you're such a man."

Desna scoffed at her. "If not for Vaatu, she'd serve better as a healer-" His words were cut short by the menacing stare of his sister. They were twins. She wore his face, only better. No man should be afraid when looking at an image of himself, those were words his father spoke in regards to the way Eska stared at him sometimes, but Eska's stare brought chills up and down his arms every time. Now that her eyes were red, the stare felt a bit more threatening. A bit more unstable and ill-willed.

Before she held back because she was a princess and he was her prince, now he was no longer sure if even that would stop her.

"Never mind." he concluded, settling deeper into his seat.

"Prince, since you have so much to say, why don't you show me yours? A man of sixteen should be ready to join his father's army don't you say? Let's see what you will kill with." His father never spoke down to him when Eska wasn't around. He tried to make the word Prince sound as authentic as possible, as proud as possible, but underneath it Desna knew it all false. His sister better fit the title of Prince than he did.

His father turned to Eska as he spoke, asking her of his progress. Any commoner who'd seen it would've laughed. A man asking a woman for a report on his son...who wasn't ill by any means - how...pitiful.

"The blacksmith made it a little too heavy for our Prince. Desna isn't ready for war- not with the way he is now at least. Of course, we won't know for sure until we evaluate him with the other boys, but I wouldn't count of it."

Desna frowned where he sat. "I'm ready-"

"Can I ask you something, My Prince." Yuu said, with sudden zeal. She didn't wait for his answer before she spoke. "Say Eska _allows_ you to go, and say you live long enough to be faced with Prince Korren, what will you do?"

Prince Korren was a horror story as far as Desna was concerned. The man was a few years older than himself, and from what Desna's been told had been in the war since he was thirteen. Stories of him speak of him wielding earth as his choice weapon, despite being born to two waterbenders. Not only that, he was good with a sword as well. Fast and merciless it see his face on the battlefield was to see death before it struck.

In the South they must've praised him as they should as spirit. His rumors were told at night, when they women had gone to bed so not to frighten them. The men laughed it off, because it all must've been tall-tale, exaggeration. It HAD to be, because a waterbender wielding earth as well was unheard of since the end of the 100 year war and ridiculous given the spirits had to allyship with southern men, but still, if what he'd done on the battlefield inspired men to speak of him in such a way, Desna prayed they would never cross paths.

When Desna was younger Korren would send letters, asking for a fight that would decide the end of their war. No doubt it was brought on by his brawn-ish southern heritage, and there was nothing to say the Prince wasn't drunk when he wrote it, but Desna was sure he'd meant it and would be ready to take him on at any given moment, drunk or not. He had no idea what sort of stories of him lingered in the South, but they were probably false, because he was certainly no match for the rumored strength of Korren.

Desna took a long time to answer Yuu. So long that when he finally moved his lips to speak she was snickering in her seat. "I would kill him." Desna said.

"Of course you would. Before or after you peed yourself? Hmm?"

"Leave him alone, Yuu." Eska warned. "My brother needs not worry of the Southern Prince anyhow. I hear the fire nation took great interest in him. Married him off to some noble man's whore."

Desna gulped at the mention of the fire nation. "You really think he would willingly marry-"

"Southerners have a weird sense of morals." His father answered. "If the rumors are true we will find of out when report of the next battle comes in. Marriage is used as allyship. I do not put it above them to get mixed up with the Fire Benders."

"Plus, southern men love their whores-"

"Why would they marry him to a whore though?"

"Nobility does not make a girl's cunt any sweeter."

"But-"

"If anything I say you're worried about the wrong thing. I say we wait until you are strong my brother. If they truly have firebenders on their side then even with our alliance with the spirits you may die." She smiled at him. It was meant to be sweet but all it did was frighten him. "Father is kind of old, wouldn't you say, the North will need their Prince to guide them."

-X-

"So, she's asking for what now?" Nori asked. He laid across the warm tiles of the training room with his wooden sword across his chest. Prince Desna sat beside him in his training slacks, though it was pointless to be wearing them.

Soon, they'd be discarded and him and Nori would focus on things they shouldn't have. "She wants to take my place on the battlefield. She hasn't told me yet, but she's going to ask father and he's going to say yes and send her in place of me."

"While you do what?"

"I don't know. I imagine Yuu will pick up her duties without fail, and if the battle rages for long father may die, he's old. Then, Yuu will take my place on the throne, until Eska returns."

Nori sat upright, and scooted closer to his prince. He stroked Desna's hair from his face so he could better see him frown. "But, Desna...You are Prince. Not Yuu. Not Eska. You are."

Desna looked at him with sad blue eyes. "That is true. But it is Eska that was compatible with Vaatu. Not me. It Eska my father bathes in prayer, and it is Eska who my father rushed to marry. No doubt on his deathbed he will ask me to serve as a treasurer, while my sister takes the title Chief. Vaatu promised her what the _Avatars _of the old world used to have, the allyship of the spirits and more. She makes for a better leader than I."

"I understand that." Nori said nodding. "But the fact is that is not a man. Who will take her serious?" He leaned forward and ghosted his lips over Desna's. "Your manhood is one thing that you have that she does not. People will listen to you, my prince, and never her."

"Vaatu says he will give her the means to give Yuu a son. If what he speaks is true then I think people will more than follow her. How embarrassing." He sobbed, tears beginning to well in his eyes. "My mother used to call me her strong man, but I fall second to my sister."

"This is about your ego…"

"Who will look at me and see a Prince-"

"A noble man's life isn't so bad." Nori laughed off the Prince's worry with a kiss. "You could buy us a nice house next to the palace, and we could-"

"I need you to train me." Desna said abruptly. "No fucking around, actually train me, so that my father will have no doubts about leaving his title to me."

Nori grimaced. "If what you said is true- then I don't think training you will be enough to change his mind, no matter how good you get. Perhaps, she will die by Korren's hand and then what good will she serve. You will have to rule the north then, no?"

-X-

Korren could only see blue despite all the red that danced around him. Water tribe women dressed like maids in blue. Swiftly they moved through the room, doing jobs of servitude to the rich fire nation people who paid them no thought until they were no longer needed. Then, they idled quietly in the shadows of the party, out of the way. It seemed practiced from Korren's view, practiced and expected.

He made an effort not to cause a scene. Hiroshi had given his word to fix anything that bothered him, but the sight irritated him more the longer the night dragged on and waiting until Hiroshi decided to make his grand appearance seemed pointless. It was hard to just watch and do nothing.

More times than not Korren found their eyes lingering on him. If they were Southern then chance had it that they knew his face and not just his name. If they were Northern, they might have only known him by name and word of his arrival. Regardless, they were no doubt wondering why he of all people was there, sitting as a Lord would in the Fire Nation. Asami had draped him in a long, rich blue tunic and brown trousers. He did at least _look _water tribe, if the water tribes were warm and their clothes were lighter. That probably only made it worse. _A water tribe boy aiding the people who were treating them as slaves_. Yet, their stares were not of disgust, more so curiosity, if not pity.

They stared until someone blocked his view, requesting his attention for a moment, which was often.

The people of the Fire Nation- or rather the rich and noble blood of the fire nation- were gathered in a what felt like a small room when it was so crowded. Asami briefly explained that the gathering was meant to be a party thrown in his welcome. He was free to get up and meet people as he liked. Instead he sulked at his table, a small one filled with food and wines he hadn't touched, that decently overlooked the room.

As Asami promised, he was treated as the main event. Every now and then someone would stop by, shake his hand, give him a name he soon forgot and a word of welcome. Women giggled to meet him, and some bravely pulled him in to coddle him and kiss at his cheeks. Then they'd move on to give a welcome home to Asami, who was much more respectful and patient than he was. She stood when she needed to, hugged people, shook their hands, laughed with them for a little while before sending them on their way.

A few times out of the night she had offered him a dance, or stronger liquor, anything to wipe his frown from his face, to which Korren refused. Eventually she went on to ignore him, attempting to enjoy what she could of the party without leaving his side.

"Prince," This new voice said. "Don't you think it's a bit unsightly to frown at a party in your honor?" Korren groaned to look up at her. It was a woman, and at that Korren expected her to smile and to bow, then go into a long rant about how handsome he was, and about how happy she was Asami would be marrying such a strong and foreign man. But instead he looked up to cold golden eyes, and face that matched Asami's. Aside from the fact that this woman was taller, and definitely more womanly, given her fuller figure, than his bride to be, he would've guessed them to be twins.

She's young, Korren noted first, and for that reason he assumed they must've been siblings at the very least, however the Fire Princess was an only child. Korren vividly remembered Hiroshi scorning her for it.

This had to have been Yasuko.

She must've seen the realization spread across his face because she smiled and held her hand for him to kiss. Korren took her hand, a tad of reluctance in the action, and kissed it softly.

"Yasuko," She introduced herself. Beside him Asami tensed. It was almost the same way she tensed when Hiroshi stepped into the room, only with this one she wore a smile and stood to give her mother a hug and kiss instead of standing to leave.

"Mother," Asami said, pulling from their hug. Yasuko gave her daughter a sweet smile, pushing some of her hair from her face.

"It's nice to see your father hadn't left you to die." She said kissing at Asami's flushed cheeks. "Your Aunt Safaia bore a son while you were away. An ugly, fat little boy, looks just like his uncle Hiroshi. She's here, why don't you go find her and welcome your cousin?"

Asami stood stupidly for a moment, looking upon her mother with what Korren considered to be shock. The Princess became smaller then, letting her hands fall from her mother's waist to wrap around her own. "Auntie Safaia doesn't like parties-"

"Well, she just had to get glimpse of the Prince, you know how the Satos are. Nosy as can be." Yasuko shook her head in disgust. "Go now. You will want to meet the boy. She's named him Akio, he has fat cheeks- just like hers."

Asami glanced a Korren, a small frown forming on her face. Korren had grown to know that's her look for when she wanted to speak freely, but Yasuko did not grant her the permission so instead she nodded, and reluctantly disappeared into the crowd of people.

Korren watched her go and waited till he could no longer see her to speak. "You didn't want her to hear what you have to say?" Yasuko's eyes darkened towards him.

"She's only fifteen, she wouldn't understand. Tahra says she wouldn't stop speaking of you, even as she was bathing. Silly girl, wouldn't you say?"

Korren nodded, "Fine then, what was it she couldn't hear?"

Yasuko towered over him from where he sat. She closed in on him, getting as close as she could without alarming anyone. "I don't know what it is Hiroshi has planned for you, or why you are here, but you should know, you are not welcomed- not in my home."

Korren smiled at her attempt at intimidation. Asami had spoken of her with such fondness, yet she made it clear her mother was not a person of great admiration for diversity. Still, he wasn't prepared to be met with..._this. _

"You're rather blunt. Do you think that is a kind way to speak to a Prince?"

She scoffed. "Is that what Hiroshi told you? That'd you be a prince if you came here?"

"Well, yes. But I was a Prince before that so that specific offer was a bit empty. Nevertheless, we would have cut out your tongue where I come from. You are in no place to tell me where I belong." The fire nation must've been a bit more lenient towards women who spoke out of place as she did. In the water tribe she might have been punished by her husband, or by the Chief himself depending on how far she went. Hiroshi must've been too busy playing with whores and drinking to have noticed his wife was less than respectful.

"I am the granddaughter of Fire Lord Azula, I think I have enough influence to say I do not want you here, much less lying with my child. We have a _long fire nation_ heritage. It disgusts me to think that a water tribe boy is what will will ruin that. "

Korren laughed. She did not like him because he was water tribe the same way his mother did not like Asami because she was fire nation. Asami warned him against upsetting her mother, but it seemed that was inevitable, he'd seen this before and there was nothing to stop it.

"Do I make your skin crawl Yasuko?"

Yasuko frowned. "More than you know. What was Hiroshi thinking anyways? Wouldn't you better serve your own people?"

"That is my intention-"

"And how will you do that on Fire Throne half a world away?" Yasuko huffed and stood upright once more. "Do you see that boy right there, Prince? He's standing guard at the doors…" Yasuko pointed at guard boy. It took Korren a moment to recognize him, _Mako_, the boy already seemed to have a hatred for him, not that Korren had cared too much.

"What about him?"

"His father's name is San, he's a good man._ Fire Nation_, he's an admiral in the army now. I was supposed to marry him when I was bit younger than Asami is now. But that didn't happen, so I arranged for Asami to marry his boy. But then you happened." She pointed a wicked finger in Korren's face. "I think it's best you go home, before things get out of hand. I will not have water tribe scum like you in my family."

Korren stood, baring his teeth at the woman. It wasn't worth getting upset over, she was just a woman, her opinion didn't matter much but yet it boiled his blood. "You will _not _speak to your Prince-"

"Mother!" Asami said from behind them. In her arms was a child, who had a fist full of her hair balled up in his little hands. "Aunt Safaia wants to speak to you…" She said meekly. "She says you've been avoiding her."

Yasuko huffed, turning away from Korren's anger without much of care. "You'd avoid her too if you had to spend a whole month and some with her. She made me sit with her while she labored, can you believe that? And only to push out..." She grimaced down at the child. "Him."

"Best to find her and get it over with. Or _she _will find _you_." Asami shrugged, bring the child up to nuzzle him.

Yasuko didn't look back at Korren as she strode away. Perhaps that was for the best. Korren wasn't sure what he would've said to her, but it definitely wasn't going to be pleasant.

Asami visibly released a breath when she was gone, and took her seat beside Korren again. "I'm sorry." She said with a smile. "She means well, I swear it. She can just be a bit much at times. Whatever she said to you...I'm sorry."

Korren scoffed. "It doesn't matter, decisions aren't hers to make."

"Its best to humor her, respond to her anger with kindness. It's the only way she'll back off, getting mad like you did won't help nor is it worth it."

Korren groaned, pulling the tie that held his mess of hair together and running his hands through it. Somewhere in the crowd Yasuko was probably watching him. Watching to see if he were talking to Asami, to see if he were touching her. It was perhaps very petty, but he leaned in closer and rested a hand around her shoulders. Any wandering eyes should know that even if he wasn't entirely fond of the situation he was placed in, Asami was pleasant to be with. He certainly enjoyed her more than he did anything else.

She smiled into a sweet and short kiss, that earned giggles from girls who were watching in the crowd, and a cry from Akio who was between them, probably feeling a little clustered. They pulled away from each other for his sake.

Korren peeked over her arms to see the little brown eyed boy bundled in his Fire Nation red, his face twisted with his discomfort.

Children in the water tribe usually liked him, they said he had a kinder face than most men- when he wasn't frowning that is. He didn't pursue them, but didn't turn them away when they pulled on his arms for a dance or a game.

"He isn't ugly," He said. "He's adorable actually."

"Yes he is, he's not chubby either. Mother exaggerated. She doesn't like Aunt Safaia too much so everything is always negative…"

Korren tempted to ask why Yasuko didn't like Asami's aunt, but he felt the answer would be much too similar to why she didn't like him.

There was a time his own mother hated his very existence, but at least she was pleasant around him. Yasuko didn't seem as though she could be pleasant at all.

Then again, Asami probably thought that of Senna as well.

Akio was still too young to truly smile, so he only gazed back at Korren, warm and innocent.

"May I?" Korren asked, picking the child from Asami's hands. Akio was probably one of the only things at the party that was pleasant. He had no interest in hate, or in Korren's marriage, or in anything but eating and pooping. The child, wrapped in his innocence, relaxed him a bit more than Korren would've like to say.

Soon, Asami poked his cheeks, "You're smiling!" She teased. "Is that what it takes to get you to smile? A child?" She laughed, while Korren desperately tried to go back to being stoic for the sake of his manliness. "I'd best bare you quickly then, no? So I can see you smile like this everyday."

-X-

Much to Yasuko's annoyance, Korren kissed Asami goodbye. It was rather late when the party ended, and, as it always was when night fell, his breathing was becoming strained, and his chest was starting to becoming unbearably uncomfortable. Every part of him begged to go to bed but Hiroshi and his men stayed behind in the now semi-empty room and asked him to stay as well.

Korren was sure it was nothing important they were asking for. Perhaps they wanted to trade stories and women. As uninterested as he was, he complied because he'd been in the Fire Nation for nearly three whole days and Hiroshi hadn't taken any time to explain anything to him. He was frustrated and ready to hold the man by that fat neck of his and shake him from a balcony.

Asami knotted her hands in his hair and kissed him goodnight again, once, twice, before her mother pulled cleared her throat and she was forced to leave.

As soon as the two were gone the men gathered at a table, and the water tribe women came from their shadows to pour the men fire ale. Eyes watched for Korren's explosive reaction, as he was known for getting upset rather easily, but none came. He'd been watching the women work all night, and while it was annoying just the same, the shock of it wore off. Now he only stared at Hiroshi, hoping he would know to provide some sort of explanation.

The Fire Lord seemed more interested in the breasts of the girl who served him than Korren. Laughing he pulled her into his lap, commenting on the traditional braids she wore, and how the fell down into her chest. Korren bared his teeth at the man, though he did not care to notice.

An old woman, with a wrinkled face and long white braids lingered over him for too long. Her hands shaking to pour slowly from the jug. She looked at Korren with familiar eyes and smiled. "I know you," She said happily. She set the jug down beside his cup and took his face into her tiny hands. Cooing she went on, "Tonraq's girl, right? Oh my, look how big you've gotten."

Korren's breath hitched, though he wasn't sure if it was from panic or embarrassment. The men around him laughed. throwing teasing words at the woman.

"That is a boy. Yara." One of the servant girls said, pulling her away and bowing to Korren. "Forgive her, she's old and senile, my Prince." Then she turned to frown at the woman, Yara. who smiled, shaking her her head. "Her eyes are bad."

"I know what I know!" She insisted.

"Oh, get her out of here already. She has nothing we men want." It was Mako who growled this, and frown settling into that usually stiff face of his. "No one wants to hear what she has to say."

"Can you blame her, Korren does look a bit-" One of the men laughed.

"It's alright," Korren said to the young woman who had come to Yara's save. "Just do not let it happen again, or I can't promise I will so kind."

The girl nodded and pulled the old woman away. With that Korren frowned at the men who had found it humorous. "That is not funny."

"Sure it is, Prince! Being called womanly, Ha!" He nearly choked on the liquor he drank. "You have a smooth face. Say, if you were a woman what kind of breast do you think you'd have?" He cupped his hands out before himself and intimated a squeeze. "I'm a big man, I think mine would be huge."

"Yes, but you're ugly and you have a huge nose. No man would fuck you regardless." Mako quipped back.

The man laughed, "Yours would be like pimples on your chest, are you mad?"

Korren groaned at the conversation and looked to the shadows where Yara was smiling at him. She was a small lady, hunched over with skin that sagged and pale, almost gray blue eyes. She knew him, somehow, but he didn't know her. He couldn't remember seeing her anywhere.

Perhaps she was one of the women who worked with his mother. Perhaps she taught his healing class while he still wore dresses and had long hair. Judging by her 'how big you've gotten' comment, it must've been years since she'd last seen him. Perhaps long enough to forget he was Korren now, or maybe just not know.

Korren wasn't sure if it was worth telling her never to mention it again. She was very old, and likely to forget at that. Plus she had been corrected, was it worth it to reveal his birth and his _now _to a woman who probably believes she made an honest mistake?

"What about Asami's- those aren't huge and everyone wants to bed her."

"Asami is pretty!"

"Plus noble pussy must have it's perks! Isn't that right, _Prince_?"

"Shut up." Korren snapped. The silence came quickly, no one of the men at the table brave enough to test Korren's word. Even Hiroshi took his eyes of the girl he held captive in his arms to look. "The only one who will speak of Asami is me, understood?"

"Prince," Hiroshi started. "It's harmless fun-"

"We will not be poking _fun _at her. Don't you have any shame? She's your child! I don't want to hear of it anymore."

"Fine, fine." The men grumbled. The conversation struggled to continue on then, with the air becoming stiffer as Korren grew upset.

"Does anyone want to tell me why you're using my women like they're slaves?" He questioned.

There were a couple snorts of laughter that took place, and some grumbles, but for the most part the men had remained silent, like schoolboys who were caught doing something bad by a strict teacher.

"Well, what else are they good for?" Someone had grumbled. Korren wasn't sure who, but he stood, seething.

"My people are not meant to serve you! Do we look like we exist to be your servant? Why go all the the way to the water tribes? Why not use your own whores?"

"They're exotic." Mako shrugged. "We don't see to many blue eyes and braids around here."

Korren growled at the boy. "What kind of man would I be if I sat by and just watched my people- ugh. Just fix this." Hiroshi sighed at the Prince's outburst. "I don't want to see this ever again. I cannot speak for them if they wish to stay here, but if they don't then send them home."

"Korren, sit down. You only just arrived. Of course the first thing you notice is the water tribe girls. We coexist. Of course we have women from everywhere, enough to fill our taste. Idle around a bit and you will notice the girls dressed in green as well."

"It's been like this forever, you can't just come and order it changed." Mako laughed.

Before Korren could comment, Hiroshi spoke, "What he means is, there is place for everyone here. This is only the palace. You leave these walls and you will see, we live together. Depend on each other. As Avatar shouldn't you want that?"

Korren scoffed. "You're bullshitting me-"

"You're not used to being in a society with so many colors. You will get used to it in time. I promise."

"Perhaps what the prince needs is a night in the whore house. It might loosen him up, get him used to seeing the three elements in one place." The men laughed, while Korren could do nothing but grit his teeth.

-X-

"It's Korra, right?" Yara said. Korren froze in his path. It'd been ages since anyone dared call him by that name and now this tiny little woman was testing him.

"It's Korren, and I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Yara held on tightly to his hand, she wasn't very strong, but Korren feared that if he yanked she'd fall and hurt herself, so he stopped, sighed and turned to face her.

"_Korren_," She tested it. "That's kind of like Korra. Why did Tonraq change it? Why are you dressed like this?"

Korren narrowed his eyes at her, annoyed and slightly drunk. "Aren't you too old to not be dead yet?"

Yara frowned at him, "You always had a temper, even as a child. Such a wild girl you were, I felt so bad for your mother."

Korren cringed. "You knew my Mother?"

Yara laughed. "I helped her birth you. Oh dear, look at you now. You have her eyes. So sweet, and gentle."

"Yes, well- I have to be going now. I'm really tired."

She tugged him back into place when he tried to move and used a tiny hand to pat down his chest. He smacked her hand away, though he was sure she already knew and it was pointless to try and argue now.

"Touch me like that again and I'll remove your hands."

"Oh my, Korra, are you binding? You shouldn't bind down your breasts like that. How will men know you're a girl when you look the way you do?" His threat obviously did very little to phase her.

"I'm a man- " Suddenly he felt like he was eight again. He would go around screaming _I'm a boy _in the face of anyone who said differently. Men had their jokes every now and then, but for the most part he never had to do that anymore.

Yara didn't seem to understand. She shook her head, "No no, I saw your birth-"

"You're mistaken. I'm obviously not a-"

"I know your face. Come, tell me, why are you pretending? Hiroshi has been searching for the Avatar for years, he would've still been interested in you if you told him the truth."

"Yara!" A voice said. Korren looked up to see the young woman who had removed her from him earlier. She quickly grabbed the woman and tore her off of him. "You cannot stop the Prince whenever you feel like it, I told you that!" Then she turned to him, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry if she caused you any trouble."

"Her tongue is what will cause me trouble."

"I'm sorry! Please, I beg of you, forgive her- again. I don't know where she gets this idea from. But she wouldn't stop babbling about it."

"I worked in the healing huts-"

"Sure you did." The girl scowled. "Now, off with you. Go to bed or something!"

Yara grumbled. "I'm so confused. Why are you doing this-"

"Yara! Prince Korren doesn't have to answer to your delusion. Go." She shoved her away until Yara gave up and walked away, all the while grumbling to herself about Korren and his breasts.

"Sorry," The girl said. "She's-"

"Old." Korren finished. "Old and misinformed."

"Right. Anyways, my name is Yuki." She said extending an arm for him to shake. Then her face quickly blushed as she realized she should bow instead. "If Yara gives you anymore trouble, just find me and drop her off, I'll take care of it. Okay?"

"Thank you." Korren said, turning to leave more troubled than he was before.

"Um- I like what you said in there!" Yara spoke quickly and red faced. "About us not wanting to be here. I liked it, it was very noble of you to stand up for us like that." Korren nodded, now desperately wanting to leave. "But Hiroshi isn't wrong. We were stolen from our home, yes, but nearly a century later, we all live together. _Coexist_ as he calls it. So you shouldn't worry so much for us okay?"

"You want to be here?" He rose an eyebrow at her.

Yuki quickly shook her head. "Well, I've never even been to the water tribes so- this is sorta my home ya know?"

Korren stared at her for a long moment. She was still rather young. Brown skinned, and blue eyes with long hair in their water tribe braids. Even her name meant 'Snow', and was traditionally water tribe native. And here she stood dressed in blue as she called this place her home.

* * *

**As always I have to say a HUGE thank you to Cookie, for putting up with me. Lol, I got a bit crazy writing this one. (And whiny). **

**Anyways! SO much just happened, i'm really excited and happy about it. Also, writing Eska and Desna was a lot of fun! **

**Leave me a comment letting me know what you think please? Or a short story...either is fine. **

**More soon. Btw guys: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I was determined to get this up today. **

**Till next time **

***Flies away* **


	8. Chapter 8

**Since you guys have been asking me about what I have in store for Asami...i felt like this was a good place to start.**

* * *

**Chapter 8- Dinner**

Asami secretly dreaded having to sup with her friends again, especially because their invitation included Prince Korren as well. Asami had been back nearly two weeks. She knew she had to see them at some point but, it was hard to become excited at the thought of introducing them to Korren. After all, they had laughed when it became public knowledge who her father was marrying her to. They hadn't laughed to be mean, more so to be annoying teenage girls who had spent too much time reading fantasy novels. Water tribe men were supposed to be handsome, and wild. Distant creatures from far away lands, who ran around in blue and white furred coats they made themselves and fought witless battles among themselves over trivial things. Or in one cruel word, savages. At least the fire nation had control over the earth colonies. And with that they knew what to expect them. The water tribes were too far away, too cold, too unknown, and unmodern. Leave it to teenagers to speculate what Asami's husband was going to be like.

She had tried to make light of it in what she thought was her final days at home, tried to see them less often in an attempt to keep them from worrying her more. Her mother knew how to handle fire nation men, and she had taught Asami what she could as well. They were easy as most of them were half witted and brawn-ish when they were drunk. Neither of them knew what to do when it came to Water Tribe men. It felt like a whole new species of men altogether. Still, her mother would have her head should she fall victim to a man simply because he was foreign. Nonetheless, her friends knew nothing of that, and probably wouldn't have cared. They had, however, taken note of her absence and she could only imagine how insulted they must've been. They were sure to accuse her of holding out on them.

Still, the invitation seemed innocent. _Come have dinner with us, bring the new Prince. _Her list of close friends was a short one when it came to public affairs. Her parents, as well as the nobles of the fire nation, expected her to be friends with other noble girls. Especially the ones who were the daughters of the members of her father's court. Being the silly, young, and naive girls everyone expected them to be, Asami was sure they cared more about what type of underwear he wore more than badgering him with insulting questions- like her mother did.

"You look nervous." Tahra spoke gently, but still, at the unexpected sound of her voice Asami snapped from her thoughts. The tub was a bad place to doze off like she had. The water had gotten cold, and had it not been for Tahra reminding her she needed to get out, she would've stayed in for another hour or so before she realized.

"I'm not nervous."

Tahra smiled at her stubbornness and readied a towel that she wrapped Asami in when she stepped out. "It's been awhile since you've seen them, it's only right you be nervous. You know how those girls are. Always the one to judge. And perhaps this whole thing has changed you some."

"I'm not nervous." Asami repeated, more firmly than before. "Ginger is getting married as well, no one looked at her differently, and she didn't change. So why would I? Are you saying I'm different from them?"

Tahra rolled her eyes the same way she did when Asami was being much. "Theres nothing wrong with being different from your friends. He is a water tribe boy afterall. Aren't you worried about how they will look at you?"

"Ginger is marrying Tahno," Asami deadpanned. "He's a water tribe boy."

"Isn't Tahno a mixed boy? How much of him is truly water-tribe? Has even cared to visit overseas? Can he even spell water?"

Asami snickered though she knew it was wrong to laugh at her maid's antics. Still though, she couldn't disagree. Tahno was water-tribe by heritage, though he was born in the Fire Nation. Being the son of an Inventor and an upper class woman granted him what he needed to never know the struggle of discrimination, or anything else Water tribe folk might face in the heart of the fire nation. He was nothing like Korren and could never hope to survive in the tiny tribe Korren called home.

"Korren is native born. I can't picture them liking that. Or at the very least not being skeptical of it."

"So you _are_ nervous?" Tahra grinned at her victory.

"I wouldn't call it nerves because what does it matter if they like him?" Asami shrugged, almost as nonchalantly as she wanted to be. She was very good at pretending. "It won't change anything. They only want to meet him to be nosy. And it's not as though he will ever be forced to dine with them again if he doesn't want to."

Asami wasn't entirely sure she wasn't terrified of this meeting. These girls liked the press a lot more than she did, and were more willing to blab if the news going public would grant them something in return.

Korren wasn't embarrassing. He was a nice man- well at least nicer than most usually were to her. Still, he had his moments where he would burst into fits of anger. He'd never gotten angry at a woman- not to her face anyways, but her friends didn't know when to let go, and would push him she was sure. That, with the curious press and people bound to surround them, was sure to make for quite the appearance.

She wasn't entirely sure why she cared what people were going to think of him either. To her it would have no effect at all. Soon after his training begins people were bound to forget that she was the one who was royalty and not him. He'll take center stage and she'll fall silently in the background like her Mother. What the people thought of him in no way would reflect her. So there was no need to want to keep him safe. She'd gain nothing from it. Anything that happened to him would be his own doing.

_Even then, he did not ask for this. _Asami shook the thought from her head and turned back to her maid. Korren shouldn't concern her as much as he did.

"Fine, fine!" Tahra said reluctantly. "This doesn't make the strong, fearless Princess of the Fire Nation nervous! Whatever she says, I must agree with, now mustn't I?"

"Yes, you must." Asami agreed, despite noting the sarcasm in her voice.

A moment of silence passed by quickly that felt out of place, almost as though it interrupted their conversation somehow.

Quickly, Asami picked up again before it could drag on too long, "Why did you tell my mother that I wouldn't stop talking about him? Now she thinks I-" She made a face. "Ugh. Don't just tell her things without letting me know. Especially things about Korren. She uses them against me you know."

"You want me to lie to your mother?" Tahra feigned a horrified look for a moment. As though Asami hasn't already asked her to lie to Yasuko.

"It's not lying if you don't say anything at all."

"She asks-"

"Then you won't be lying if you know nothing. Perhaps I should stop talking to you?"

"Oh please, then who would you talk to? Your friends? That would be interesting to see."

"Ha-ha. Very funny. I'm serious. Your loyalty is to me first. Don't tell her anything about Korren. She doesn't like him."

"What does she believe you think of him?"

Asami made a face, "That I'm a silly girl, in love with her foreign man."

"Are you not?"

"I only just met him Tahra. He notices me only when it's convenient to him. Or when he thinks I need his help-"

_Why would he notice me otherwise? He didn't ask for me. _Asami was sure Korren would much rather sit and brood than spend his nights with her beneath him. In the last few weeks they had gotten closer in the sense that she no longer found a sense of mystery in him. After all, he had proven to be very straight forward. Though he never asked for sex, he kissed her and touched her, and held her _when he wanted to__._ That was in private though. In public he wouldn't even glance twice at her. He spent his mornings lost in his own precious little thoughts. His evenings arguing with Hiroshi and his men. And his nights...well, at least she was a part of that. She was sure when they did talk, as rare as a real conversation between them was, he only ever listened out of boredom- if he was truly listening at all. Perhaps it was in a water tribe man's nature to humor a woman when he was to wed her.

No man in the Fire Nation had ever found her interesting enough to humor her for more than a minute before mentioning her beauty or her breasts.

"But didn't you say you like kissing him?"

A slightly embarrassed blush fills asami's face. "Well yes- kissing is fun." Regardless of why it's being done. "But it won't change anything. He kisses me for the same reason I kiss him. And if the physical aspects are the best part of this arrangement then-"

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Tahra interrupted quickly. Now, her face going a deeper shade of red than Asami's. "I don't want to think about him taking you...it's...unnerving"

Asami rolled her eyes at the woman before her. She was in her late 50s probably, and couldn't even talk about sex without getting flustered, how befittingly pathetic. She stepped from her towel when she dry and didn't bother with a robe as she stepped from the bathroom into her room. Her dress was already chosen and laying neatly on a rack. Deep red, because that was her nation's color, and slim with a drooping bow in the back. Sometimes she loved going out with her friends, because the attire was more casual and laid back than what she was accustomed. She grabbed her underwear and quickly jerked them on before Tahra could offer help.

"So when it does happen," She continues, and with a sly grin added, "the sex I mean," causing Tahra to huff defeatedly. "Are you saying I can't come to you in confidence? I already know what my mom will say, and the girls- well they will giggle because they're them. Can I not come to you, Tahra?"

"Of course you can come to me," Tahra said. " I won't say that I'll enjoy thinking about him and-"

Asami frowned for in thought for a moment, "he wasn't interested."

"Pardon?"

"In sex. Korren isn't interested. Strange huh? He didn't even budge."

Tahra made a disgusted face. "You were looking?"

"Well no! But when we kiss there's this weird…" She struggled for a moment to find the right word to describe it. Korren was a strange man. He was a bit more..._reserved _than others. When he touched her it was cautious, and certainly didn't last long before he pulled away, even when he was just kissing her to prove to her mother that he could.

"Innocence!" Asami said. "He's innocent." She giggled at the word._ Innocent_was the word she chose to describe the brooding southern warrior. How silly. "He tenses up, like the thought of it makes him nervous."

Tahra scoffed. "A man is a man. They're all the same"

"Why do you sound like my mother? Have you been talking to her behind my back Tahra? Tsk tsk, That is not appreciated."

"If you truly believe he's any different for waiting then your mother has taught you nothing. How many whores has he taken since he's been here? Do you know?"

Asami frowned. The thought of Korren and whores hadn't cross her mind. She knew he had taken none on her father's ship, because he spent most his time there locked in his room. No one could get him out without force. When they started to kiss, it was her that was in his bed every night not someone else.

But once they arrived the story changed. He hadn't taken her into his room as of yet. And there was quite the choice of women here, thanks to her Father. He could have anyone he wanted. Even noble women, if he tried a little. They did giggle all night at his party about how handsome he was. He'd never seen a whore dressed in Green before- at least Asami didn't think he had, because there was nothing green in that secluded little tribe of his. Maybe he'd want to try someone from far away for a change. Or maybe he didn't like change- he certainly didn't handle being on the ship too well. Maybe he wanted a water tribe woman. Maybe he _had_taken a water tribe woman, and that's why his interest in Asami faded as it did.

"You've gone pale." Tahra said. Asami didn't notice when Tahra had started to dress her, but her hands were above her head as Tahra pulled down the dress.

"I'm fine." Her voice didn't come as strongly as she hoped it would have.

"You hadn't thought of that had you?" Tahra said with a grin. "I told you to stop putting your faith into these people as much as you do. Oh look at you, I bet it hurts you."

"It does not. It wouldn't be out of place for him to take a woman or two into his chambers at night if it pleases him. And I- why are we talking about this? It shouldn't even be a topic of conversation. That's how much it doesn't matter."

"That doesn't make it sound like you're not hurt. Here, sit, I'll brush your hair." Tahra pointed to a seat for Asami to sit in.

"Does it matter how I feel?"

Tahra didn't need to think of her answer as she picked up a length of Asami's thick raven hair in her hands. "No, but it would be nice to know."

-X-

_He will be in blue, his hair will be messy, and he will be upset. _Asami predicted silently to herself to pass the time she waited. Korren had 'business' to finish up before he could leave, and so she waited in the Sato-Mobile, without complaint of course, because what sort of quiet wife would she be if she dared complained.

Truly though, it annoyed her. She didn't like being late unless it was absolutely necessary. She was sure whatever Korren found to complain about this time could wait till the next time he decided to have a fit. Why did she have to compromise just because he wanted to whine for the millionth time?

Finally though the door unlocked, not without struggle, and Korren slid in beside her.

_Mmm, lets see, _Asami thought. _He's in blue. _A blue vest, with a white button down shirt underneath and black pants. He looked a bit more modern than how he usually did. _His hair is messy. _He seemed as though he had at the very least tried to do something with it. The usually knotted locks were pushed back into a tie that held it all out of his face, but whatever he was doing shook someone strands loose in the front and back. At least the messy look suited him some. _Annnnd he's upset. _Asami smiled and wondered what her father could've done to offend him this time.

"Hello," He said politely.

"Are you okay? You don't look so well." She reached over to pick some of the strands from his face, to which he flinched away, grabbing her hands in his and setting them in her lap. Asami tried not to frown.

"I'm fine. Just something with your father-"

_That you won't explain to me because I'm a girl. _Asami nodded, "I'm sorry,"

Korren rose an eyebrow at her, "You still apologize for things you have no involvement in? I told you, you don't need to do that anymore. Let your Father's faults be his own."

Asami shrugged. "Habit, I suppose. Please, excuse it."

Korren didn't comment, instead slouched down into his seat.

"I don't like these things. They make me feel dizzy."

The comment caught Asami by surprise, as he would usually become lost in his thoughts when he was upset over something. So, she smiled, and humored him a bit. "You mean the car?"

"Yeah,"

"Do they not have cars in the water tribes?"

"They don't work very well in the snow. We do have snowmobiles though. I prefer those."

Asami laughed. They were so different. She for one loved cars. They were smooth, and nice, and nothing was better than being somewhere where they needed to drive for hours. "I find them relaxing. It's okay, you probably just have a bit of motion sickness. It happens. You'll get used to it."

Korren shot her a sly grin, "I don't get sick"

"Of course not." She grinned back. "But when you do, please try to keep your puke on that side of car. My dress is very pretty tonight isn't it? It doesn't need anything extra."

Korren scoffed, "Of course."

Asami couldn't tell if he was smiling because he actually meant it, or if he just wanted some distraction and the best way to keep her talking was to humor her._Either way, he has a beautiful smile._

With that Asami moved closer and rolled down his window to let fresh air in, despite the wind messing up her hair, and Korren's even more so. "The air will help." Korren nodded his thanks.

"Do you know who invented these, Prince?" Asami asked, just for the amusement. Of course Korren wouldn't know, or even care to. He looked at her with shining blue eyes and waited for her to continue.

"A man named Iknik Blackstone Varrick. You met him at your party do you remember?" Korren shook his head. Of course he didn't remember. Varrick had no importance to him. Asami laughed. "Well, he and my father were supposedly good friends in their childhood. They worked on the idea before my Father married my Mother. After that, Varricked worked alone. Isn't it wonderful?"

Korren looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "Varrick is a water tribe name."

"It is."_Is that truly all you noticed, Prince? _Asami sighed, men could be so simple sometimes.

"I think I would've remembered meeting a water tribe man, especially one who managed to be of high class in the Fire Nation." Then more thoughtfully he added, "an inventor… how odd."

"He was born here. He chooses to wear red sometimes."

Korren scoffed. "Right."

"That bothers you?"

"It seems you all like to rob people of their culture. I met a girl that night, who reluctantly braided her hair and wore her colors, but proudly stated she was Fire Nation. Even after knowing she was only here because her grandparents were taken from their homes and brought her to serve his_majesty_the Fire Lord. It's disgusting. It's weird. I don't like it." He suddenly seemed upset again. This time Asami was sure she had annoyed him in someway, though she didn't quite understand it. There was pride in wearing red in the Fire Nation. And Varrick knew nothing of what lingered overseas. There was nothing there for him to embrace or want to be apart of. Why was he upset about a man choosing to embrace the place he was born?_What does he expect him to do? Change his name?_

Asami went quiet. It was easier than trying to calm Korren down when he was upset.

The drive felt long and tense after that. Asami didn't dare open her mouth to him, and there was no way he would say anything to her. She understood why he was upset about being here. She could sympathize with it, but did he really have to be upset over ever little thing that crossed his path? For one night, could he not humor her and smile without finding some fault in everything?

She decided to let it go after a moment too long of thinking on it. _He's still adjusting. He'll get over it. _He had to if he was to take throne after her father. What kind of Fire Lord would he be if he resented the people he ruled over?

Flashing lights and the smell of salt water brought Asami from her thoughts, and with that she knew she they had arrived. Of course there was a crowd.

She smiled and turned to Korren, who was still pouting in his seat. "You've had your picture taken before, yes?"

Korren twitched at the sight of the water. Asami told him they'd be going out, but perhaps failed to mention that it was going to be on ship. _Is he excited? _It was hard to tell, all he did was stare. "A few times with my father when I was a child. And again at the party."

"Good, so you know to smile. Please, your smile suits you."

Korren attempted, that much Asami could thank him for. But as soon as a guardsman opened the door them, and he was faced with the screaming people his smile faded and instead he wore a defensive look. Despite the guards walking ahead of them, Korren slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Did your people not cheer when they saw your face?" She asked, amused.

"Not exactly…" Korren murmured into her ear.

"Well, don't look like you're going to kill them. That helps." These people did get a little crazy, Asami knew that much to be true, but unless they hated her there was no way they were going to do anything to try and hurt her. Besides, they were surrounded with great guardsmen, nothing would happen.

Korren stepped onto the ship first, and then held her hand as she followed him up.

Her friends beamed as she walked in, perhaps more so because Korren was still hold her hand than that they were excited to her.

Her small group of friends consisted of about eight or so girls. All of them of some sort of noble birth, and their fathers all tied to hers in some way. Some days seeing them felt more like duty than anything else. On others it was like they were best friends, bound together by true natural forming bonds rather than duty to their respective fathers.

Ginger was the oldest of them. Somewhere in her early twenties, she was tall, with dyed red hair and matching lipstick. She jumped up first to pull Asami from Korren's hands and hug her. "Oh look at you! It feels like its been forever doesn't it?"

Asami smiled as she pulled away and went over to greet the other girls. "It hasn't been that long, a few months or so."

"Is that not long to be away?" Asami shrugged. With everything that had happened it hadn't felt so long since she'd last seen them. There was no need to explain however, because as soon as they sat down and the ship began to move, all the attention was off her and on Korren sitting beside her.

The poor Prince sat awkwardly stiff, perhaps not used to have a group of teenage girls stare at him so intensely. Still, he casually introduced himself, and waited as the girls went in a line, calling out their names.

"Wow Asami," Ginger said, elbowing her in the ribs, "not what we expected, but he's cute isn't he?"

Asami laughed at how Korren tensed.

"So you're the Avatar or something like that right?" Tama said. She leaned forward on her elbows towards him like a teenage girl in awe of his beauty.

"Um…" Korren looked nervously at Asami. _You have the courage to punch my father in the face without seconds thoughts and go into battle time after time, but you can barely speak to a teenager girl no older than I am? _ "Yeah, I suppose. I haven't really thought about it much. It hasn't been important."

"Of course it's important!" Ginger chimed in. "You're supposed to change the world." Korren chuckled at whatever thought lingered into his mind, and passively agreed with Ginger. Asami let go of a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Being the Avatar was usually a touchy subject, but he let it go without complaint for a change.

"So what's it like where you're from?"

"Cold." Korren answered jokingly. "There isn't much to look at it. It's not like here at all. Though, we have this festival, every winter solstice. We build these amazing statues out of ice. If you were to ever visit, I recommend you stay till then." When the response didn't grant the girls what they expected they slumped, causing Korren to laugh. "Something tells me you girls read too many romance novels."

"Are you saying you don't run around shirtless?"

"Did you hear me when I said it was cold?"

"Is it true you tattoo boys when they reach manhood?"

"No. _Spirits _where do you get your information from?"

The girls shared a look among each other and then bursts into a fit of giggles. "Romance novels."

Thankfully Korren didn't seem to mind. These girls weren't violently offensive like some of the others he had come into contact with. Asami cringed to think about what her mother could've said to him. They were simply curious and enjoyed joking around. They weren't plotting to take advantage of him like her father took advantage of the young water tribe girls who worked in the palace. Asami appreciated that Korren noticed that almost immediately, and adjusted to even shooting a few jokes back them himself.

"Well, do you ride around on dragons?"

"Dragons are extinct silly!"

"Oh, pardon me, I read it in a book once." The girls laughed, seemingly approving of his sense of humor.

The night dragged on smoother than what Asami had initially pictured. The girls joked and laughed with Korren, and surprisingly enough the brooding Prince let them, as though he was a teenager himself.

Perhaps it was the scenery that calmed him down. The distant, far away lights that glistened in the background had a certain tenderness to it, like they were disconnected from the world. None of the toxic noise from the city could reach them, and they couldn't reach it. It was relaxing to think they were so far away from any problems that might plague them. That mixed with the bit of alcohol the girls grew drunk off of was bound for a mood no one could hate.

Korren certainly hadn't been that relaxed since they arrived. And Asami felt victorious as she watched him, "I can make it dance, watch!" Korren grinned as he bent the water in the sauce an octopus that they were supposed to eat laid in. The girls gathered round him and watched intently until the legs of it stood up and did an outrageous little dance that sent them into fits of laughter.

Asami laughed too, not feeling a bit ridiculous for being worried at all. It was hard not to like Korren when he smiled, and actually seemed like he was genuinely having fun.

Soon their giggles died down into quiet whispers as they gathered round in a circle and talked about more private things. Ginger spoke, mostly, about Tahno and their plans for their wedding, prompting the girls to ask to about Asami's wedding, which would be soon after Ginger's. There was nothing set in stone yet, that Asami knew of at least, because planning for it wasn't her job. All she had to do was show up.

Korren simply laughed at the choice topic, and, with nothing to contribute, laid his head in Asami's lap as she gently stroked her fingers through his hair, undoing what she could of the knotted mess. _He looks tired, _Asami noted, _and he's breathing so shallow. _

"Perhaps we should be turning around now," she said and one of the guards nodded and went to tell the captain. She didn't want this moment to end. Korren would have to go back to dealing with his troubles, and all their problems would weigh heavy on their shoulders once more.

"No one wants to go home just yet!" Someone objected. Asami's mind was to fogged to figure out who.

"Well we can't stay out all night can we? There's bound to be some headline tomorrow...can you imagine it?"

"Princess Asami stumbles back home drunk with her new man candy…" Ginger teased. Korren grinned up at Asami.

"I'm man candy?"

"Aren't you tired?" Asami deadpanned, putting her hands over his eyes. "Shush. Go to sleep." Korren's laughter was cut short by the sound of something loud and the sudden flying of glass and floor boards.

Asami's first instinct told her to get down, and drag Korren and the nearest girl down with her. Before she could make it to floor she was tossed by the impact of whatever went off. So instead she squeezed her eyes shut where she landed and waited for it to be over.

A second felt like a lifetime. The explosion still rang in her ears when it was gone and she opened her eyes to smoke and the ruined deck of the ship. Her head hurt, and it didn't take long to realize she was bleeding.

_A bomb? _Asami thought through her fog. _Someone bombed my ship. Why? _She struggled to stand, realizing only then that a few shards of broken glass had pierced her skin. On impact her dress had ripped and she lost as shoe.

Korren was already standing by the time she made it to her feet. His face bleeding in one or two places, but otherwise he seemed fine. "It came from below deck!" A guardsmen shouted, and on command a few of them were rushing down there despite the damage to ship suggesting that they shouldn't.

She grabbed hold of Korren. "It's going to sink." Korren agreed, already feeling the ship wobble under his feet.

"We have to-"

_Boom!_

This time, Asami couldn't react or even think about reacting.

She landed in the water, this time. There was screaming, from her friends, who were perhaps more confused about this than she was.

"Everyone, CALM DOWN!" She shouted, though the timid, meek part of her wanted to panic as well. "PANICKING WON'T DO ANY GOOD!"

Some grabbed a hold of her waist as she began to swim, and it took her a second to recognize Tama through the amount of blood and debris that clung to face, even while wet. "Ginger!" She cried.

"What?" Ginger was easy to spot though it was night. Her bright red hair over casts her face as she floated in the water.

_No, no, no! _There wasn't too much room between the two of them, but as she swam it seemed she just couldn't reach her.

There was another loud sound, and for a second Asami feared it was third bomb. Instead it was water, a lot of it. Asami looked up and recognized Korren, same as he was the day the blue spirit creatures attacked his tribe.

His blue eyes were hidden by a brilliant white, and he hovered over them, bending an incredible amount of water and freezing it for the girls to climb up on. His shirt was a bit bloody as well, and she supposed the avatar state was his body's way of saying he wasn't allowed to die from something like this just yet.

First, she put Tama up on it. Then swam to help Ginger while Korren dived down to find any of the guardsmen that went below deck, or any of the servants.

Ginger's body laid lifeless on the block of ice. Her eyes were open and full of fear and surprise, properly depicting the way Asami felt in that moment.

The others shied away from the lifeless body, afraid to so much as look. Instead they cried in each other's arms.

Ginger had a long, thick piece of glass sticking out from her chest. It bloodied the ice, Asami's hands, and her dress. And though it hurt Asami to pull out she did anyways, but Ginger didn't budge. And in that moment, Asami knew what it was like to truly feel useless.

Korren returned a moment later, setting two guardsmen on the ice. His eyes were still white she noticed, but he looked at her, and with a chilling calmness asked, "Do you know CPR? They'll be fine, I saw two more down there, I'm going to get them." Without receiving an answer he swam away, leaving Asami to rush to the bodies.

"Tama, come here." She ordered. The young girl cried more than moved. "TAMA! Come on! I need your help. Do you want someone else to die?"

With reluctance Tama slid over to Asami and waited for instructions. "Cross your hands over his chest like this. Do it a couple times then tilt his head back and blow air into his mouth. If you get tired, call someone else over to help you? Do you understand?"

Tama shook as she nodded and followed Asami's lead. But Asami did not work without tears clouding her eyes.

_Why? _She wondered._1\. 2. 3. Why? _The man beneath her didn't budge as of yet so she kept going, unwilling to let someone else die. _Why did this happen? Why was korren so calm? _

Tama's guy coughed and spat up water, then struggled for air. Hers still stared up at her with blank eyes that still seemed to be pleading for her not to give up._Do something. _They begged._Do something!_

_Oh that's right. _Asami remembered. _Korren is a warrior. Korren knows how to deal with these things. 1. 2. 3. Korren knows how to keep fighting and not let the horror of it all cloud his judgement. 1. 2. 3. I want to be more like Korren._

Cold hands grabbed her own, and stopped her. "Asami." Korren's voice, _why's it so gentle? _"He's gone. Come on, I have to get you home." _Why's he so-_

She didn't realize she was crying until Korren wiped away her tears and picked her up. Oh, someone's stepped into the boat that was waiting for them and seated her in his lap. He nestled her ever so tenderly in his arms. Yet he said nothing, and it a way Asami was glad he didn't bother. There was nothing that could be said to justify this.

-X-

"That little asshole." Mako said, entering the war room. "Who does he think he is? Just giving orders to any and everyone? I didn't work my way up just to be degraded by a shithead like him!"

Hiroshi didn't bother to glance up from the breasts of the woman who was sitting in his lap. "Well aren't you going to do something?" Mako nearly shouted, slamming Korren's letter down in front of him. "You're just going to let him order us around like that?"

"_Send my letter. My people must know I'm okay!_" Another guard mocked badly. "Why does he care so damned much? They sure as fuck don't care about him!"

Hiroshi laughed down at the letter Korren spent so much time writing, only to stamp it with the Fire Nation royal seal. "What are you going to do? He's a water tribe boy, he should know his place in Fire Nation!"

Hiroshi snapped up at Mako, scaring the girl in his lap into standing up. "I'm going to send it of course! If he wants to send a letter to his people, then we are no one to stop him! _You_ do not forget _your_ place."

Mako scoffed, "Why? You don't_ truly _intend to make him-"

"Of course I do." Hiroshi picked up the letter and examined it as much as he could it without opening it. Korren's messy handwriting wrote out "_To the elders._" Hiroshi couldn't imagine what was so important Korren demanded the letter be sent immediately, but he supposed that didn't matter. "In the meantime you will keep him happy. Send a messenger boy out on a ship tomorrow. His message will be sent to his people."

Mako stuttered in disbelief for a moment before taking the letter from Hiroshi. "But he's water tribe! You're going to marry you Fire Nation daughter to a Water tribe boy? Seriously? Aren't you worried about what people will think of him sitting in throne after you? He'll be a joke!"

"Did you think I went out of my way to mock the boy?" He pulled the girl back down into his lap and without thought continued fondling her breasts. "He's an Avatar Mako, his title alone will be more to the Royal family than anything you could ever do for us."

Mako fumed nearly crumpling the letter in his hands. "Shouldn't that be enough to concern you? We know nothing of his people! Of his kind! When was the last time the world had an Avatar? You don't know what may come of this!"

"Mako!" San shouted to his son. "Remember who you speak to! Have respect!"

"He's trusting our lives to someone-"

"-And if he were asking you to fall on your sword you would do it! Do not shame me in front of our Lord! You will deliver the letter and kiss that boy's ass if that's what he asks of you! Do you understand?"

"I-"

"Is that a no?" San asked, stepping to his son. Mako huffed but bowed.

"I'm sorry to have disrespected you."

"Perhaps I should burn you like...oh! What was his name? The banished Prince- Oh geez what was his name?" Hiroshi bellowed a huge laughter. "Rise boy, rise! A few months ago you would've been family. This is best for everyone, I need you to trust my decisions. He can bring us great things."

Mako didn't bother saying anything more. The idea was ridiculous, but there was no way a simple minded man like Hiroshi was going to see that.

Marry the Avatar, a being that hasn't existed for nearly a hundred years, to his only daughter. And for what? Just to say that he did? Korren can't bring them anything more than he could. He's nothing more than a wild tundra boy who can spin rocks above his head like one of those earthbenders. The Fire Nation didn't need him to be great. And the people certainly wouldn't be okay with a water tribe boy ruling over them as though he belonged.

Mako could only imagine the state of unrest the Fire Nation was about to plunge itself into. What else could come with someone so unknown about to be in a position of power?

"I'll take the letter!" Mako had almost forgotten about his younger, half brother, Bolin lingering behind him. The boy was wide eyed and eager for just about anything, of course he volunteered. Mako sneered towards him, "you are not a messenger boy Bolin! Don't embarrass me!"

"Come on! I never do anything fun!"

"Going South isn't fun! They're wild and we know near nothing of them! You're not going for some stupid letter."

"Dad please!" Bolin pleaded. "If I do a good job you can send me to the earth colonies to start my training! Please! I won't mess up I promise!" Mako made a face. San never allowed Bolin to call him 'Dad' or anything of the sort when in front of others. Especially not when he was wearing the dirty green color of the Earth colonies. Mako wasn't sure why he would dare do it when begging for something he wanted, but then again, he never really understood Bolin either.

Hiroshi looked up at San with blank eyes. He couldn't care less who went, as long as someone went by the next morning, as not to upset Korren further.

"Do whatever you want Bolin. I can't stop you."

"If I do a good job you'll send me to start training right? Ooooo! What if by the time the new Prince starts training I'm finished! Then I could teach him and we could be buddies or something!"

Mako groaned. "Bo?"

"Yeah?"

"Take the letter, and go."

Bolin eagerly grabbed the letter from his brother's hands, and rush out the door. As soon as he left, another man entered, dripping from head to toe in water. "Bard?" Hiroshi said. "Is Asami back so soon?"

"Why are you wet? Did you let those girls make a fool out of you?" Mako snickered.

Bard made a face, and lowered himself to his knees. "I'm so sorry, Sir. Something happened…"

-X-

Asami was still soaking wet by the time they arrived back at the palace and due to her silence Korren assumed she must've been asleep as well. The night had taken an unexpected turn for the worse, he didn't expect her to be up and talkative, but the silence scared him. He had watched his men die countless of times, and each time he knew how to handle it, how to mourn for them when the time was right, and how to let go.

But Asami was so timid and so meek. She had not grown to see death like he had. _How will she take this? What should I say?_

Her arms were loose around his neck as he carried her to her room, and for a second he prayed she was asleep, so he would have more time to think of what to say to her.

"What are you doing in here? You aren't her handmaiden." Korren frowned when we was met with the old, wrinkled face of Yara at the door. The old woman frowned back at him as well.

"They said she needed a healer so here I am! Still pretending to be-"

"Shut up, hag!" He pushed passed her and placed Asami on her bed. "Why not send the younger one? Yuki! Why not send her?"

"I'm more experienced than she is. Do you have a problem with me Korra?" Yara frowned and joined him at the side of Asami's bed. She was shivering really badly, but Korren hadn't noticed that before. He hadn't been able to dry her clothes properly with his bending. His muscles were weak enough as it is. The avatar state took a lot of him, and he felt like he'd collapse at any moment. But he had to be strong, just a little longer, just until he knew Asami was okay.

"I have a problem when things as old as you are refuse to die."

Yara frowned, "That's rude!"

"Would you help her already?!" Korren hissed. He managed to get her damp dress off, so Yara wouldn't have to struggle with it herself. Poor Asami was covered head to toe in bruises and and cuts from shards of glass. Nothing seemed particularly horrible though, and at that Korren breathed easier.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I don't want to." Korren huffed, turning away from her.

"You're breathing heavy!" She pointed out. "I told you about the binding!"

"Shut up!" Korren nearly shouted, causing Asami to stir towards his voice. She still looked a bit out of it. "Do what you can and hurry so she can get some rest!"

He turned his back to them to lock himself in Asami's bathroom. He didn't like it when people like Yara were right about him. He was only breathing as heavily as he was because he spent all day in his binder. Then the explosion happened and well…

He didn't want to think about it anymore. It seemed a bit selfish to be more concerned with how much his chest was aching than Asami who was probably in a lot more pain, but he desperately needed a breath.

Quickly he undid the buttons of his shirt then struggled to carefully undo the hoops of his binder rather than just rip it of. It fell to the floor lamely once he was done. It hurt to suck in air, but he took in as much of it as he could.

This was the price he paid for wanting to be himself. He couldn't even go a day without needing to remove his binder and admit to people like yara, if not himself, that he was few short of a liar. Quietly he sunk on the bathroom floor and focused on breathing.

_It feels good. _His mind could only stay focused on that for a while. He couldn't even come up with any reason as to why what happened happened. Or who might've been behind it. For a moment he didn't care. He just wanted relief. Asami was safe, and he had his air. That's all he needed for the moment.

_Knock knock._

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there when yara entered, not bothering to wait for his okay before entering. For a second he panicked, and tears threatened his eyes as he grabbed his shirt to cover up.

"Damn it, Yara! What do you want?" Yara didn't bother rubbing it in his face that she was right and had been all along. Instead she closed the door behind her and went to throw out the pail of bloodied water she used to clean up Asami.

Korren shivered, tense. Not wanting to let go of his shirt even for her, who already knew the truth. "Is- Is she okay?"

Yara nodded. "She'll be fine. A few days off her feet and it'll be like nothing happened."

"Good." Korren nodded his relief, "that's good."

"And you?"

"And me?"

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Um- Yeah, The Avatar thingy sorta heals all my wounds when I-"

"That isn't what I mean and you know it!"

Korren pouted. "Then I don't know what you mean."

"Can I ask you something?" Yara said with true curiosity.

"You're going to ask anyways so might as well."

"Why don't you like your breasts? I know many girls who would want a body like yours and yet you're hiding it. Yuki would want- oh." She washed her hands and then went to kneel before him and wiped away some tears that betrayed him. He wasn't entirely sure why he chose now to cry. He hadn't cried about this in years. So why right now, in front of a woman like Yara?

"Come on, let go, let me see them." She said gently tugging at his shirt. She almost had to rip them from his hands to reveal the flattened, discolored, and bruised breasts that belonged to him. "See look what you've done. These are no good anymore."

"Shut up." He murmured, bringing his hands up to hide them. "Give me back my shirt. I'm tired. I want to wish Asami goodnight and go to bed."

"She's already asleep anyways." Korren frowned and yanked the shirt away from her he picked up his binder and began to wrap it around himself again when she said, "you're going to hurt your lungs too if you keep this up. You won't be able to save anyone if you die."

"What do you want me do?"

"Well, you could tell the truth-"

"There is no truth to tell. This is who I am."

Yara frowned, and stared thoughtfully at him for a long while. "Then...let me remove them for you."

Korren paused. "I'm sorry?"

"I can remove them, if you want. Before they get any worse. It's better than you threatening to kill yourself for your ridiculous lie."

Korren laughed. "Yeah right. At what price?"

"You'll tell her the truth at the very least. Eventually you'll have to, if you love her as much as you seem to." She pointed at the door, and Korren knew what she meant.

Asami.

Korren shivered at the thought. There were no rumors of his truth lingering throughout the Fire Nation. It was almost as though this was a chance to start new. Where no one speculated, and he didn't have to tell anyone anything he didn't want to.

"I don't love her then. Pick something else. Something simplier."

Yara shook her head and frowned. "You're ridiculous."

"Fine. Then you won't do it."

"No! Teach Yuki some things about our home instead. She knows nothing and her parents are interested in teaching her. I don't want this place to suck her culture from her."

Korren smiled as he buckled the last of his binder. "I can do that."

He paused as was about to leave, and very reluctantly bid her good night.

Asami wasn't exactly asleep when he peaked over to kiss her cheeks. Yara dressed her in a long night dress, but her feet weren't covered and were riddled with bruises. She was shaking, as she stared out at nothing.

_Did she hear? _Korren wondered. But she didn't even budge as he slipped next to her, which is probably why Yara assumed she was asleep in the first first.

"Korren?" She mumbled out, in a voice that was toneless. "I'm going to kill them. All of them."

Korren would've asked who, but she was only a girl. She just watched her friend die in front of her. The threat was empty and would stay empty up until the day she let go of it. Besides, neither of them knew who was behind the attack, so he simply held her in his arms and nodded, "I'll help you if you want."

* * *

**It's been a while since i've updated, so i hope this was okay. Pretty much everything that happens in this chapter revolves around Asami, because, again, a lot of people have been asking.**

**This is like the first real chapter where we get to see who she is, as a person, rather than who she has to be around everyone else. It was pretty cool to write her thoughts and how she sees everyone around her.**

**I hope this was a decent peak into her head.**

**As always huge thanks to Cookie for putting up with me, and being patient *Mostly* **

**Please leave me a comment, a thought, or criticism. :)**

**Till next time.**

***Flies away***


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Inheritance**

There was joy to be found in sparring with Yuu. She was much smaller than Eska, but quicker, and more cunning. It wasn't easy to figure out when their sparring started and when it ended. Yuu was more than willing to drag her trickery out all night if that's what it took to win, and more often than not Eska fell victim to her deceit. She'd end up tied to their bed or quivering under her on the floor of some corridor. Not that she minded of course. Yuu's creativity and blatant lack of care for another person's life was what made it fun.

But these days, playing death with her wife felt more like work than something done for fun.

Eska was out of breath before they'd even started. Running after Yuu used to be nothing, easy as breathing almost. She could've gone for hours if that's what her wife wanted.

Twisting and turning and being lead into room after room and watching the baffled then terrified look in the servant's eyes as they begged them to calm down used to be fun.

Yet as of late it hasn't been much more than an exercise wearing her down to her bones. Eska was breathing heavily, to the point where the sound of her own strained breaths were becoming irritating to listen to. Her head was spinning at the sound of Yuu's giggles and trying to follow them became harder with each minute that passed. Her sword felt heavy in her hands so she dragged it behind her. The sound of it scratching against the floor was more comforting than the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

_How long has it been? _Eska wondered as she peeked into a room where servants gathered around an overturned table that had its contents spilled in various places. "Where did she go?" She asked, using the second it took to stop to catch her breath.

"Throne room most likely," one said nonchalantly. "She zipped through here like she was in a rush. I'm surprised it took you so long to follow."

"I lost track of her." Eska said, not entirely sure why she felt the need to justify how long it took her to get there to a mere servant.

_How long has it been like this? _She continued to wonder as she strode forward. Her body was beginning to burn and with every step her feet threatened to give out. Still, she looked at this as though she was going to meet her fate. Like in the darkness of the throne room she'd look her death in the face. _Might as well go out with a bang!_ There was no way she'd be able to stand against Yuu and be anything but useless in her current state. But there was no more point in giving up as there was in going forward.

The throne room was always dark because it was hardly ever used. Desna was not yet ready to take throne, and their father was an old man and few coughs short of dying where he stood. He hadn't granted her any rights to throne as of yet, so she was in no position to sit upon it. Though if he had, she couldn't say for sure she'd truly care for it. It was only just a chair. It itself had no power. It was pointless.

Yuu seemed to have a liking for it though. Eska found her boldly sitting in her father's place with her feet crossed looking much like a troubled queen waiting to meet with a bothersome subject. Eska would've smiled any other day. She would've smiled and dragged her down from there and held her by her neck until she surrendered. That's if Yuu didn't get her first. Either way, the room would be filled with playful giggles soon after.

She wasn't quite sure how she looked in the moment, but she imagined it was less than loving because Yuu didn't grin or even so much as break the iciness of her stare.

"Don't look at me the way you look at your brother." She frowned. "What did I do to you?" There was a pout coming. Eska knew it and made no attempt to go and comfort her wife. There was no more energy left in her body to go coddle Yuu so instead she laid her sword down beside her and sat down.

"You made me run all over the palace looking for you."

"You should be happy it wasn't all over the water tribe. I ought to punish you, you know! You took forever. It was like waiting for an old man to finish a sentence. Shouldn't you be speeding up? With Vaatu and all... You're getting slower. You're a lazy Avatar." Yuu slouched in the throne and pouted like Eska knew she would've.

Finding out she was compatible with Vaatu was exciting for everyone, but Yuu beat her father's thrill by a long shot. Vaatu was dark and strong and, as far as Yuu was concerned, a brand new toy for her and Eska to play with. But it was clear that there was disappointment. Vaatu wasn't near as lively or as entertaining as Yuu had hoped.

It was hardly fair to either them. Yuu should've been allowed her fun, and Eska shouldn't have been so tired. Vaatu's strength should've been her own, because that's how the deal went. As far as she was concerned though, all Vaatu did was rest heavily on her chest like a sort of free loader. It shouldn't have been that way. She didn't know much of Avatars, or what it meant be one aside from balance and strength, but surely the spirit that occupied the Southern Avatar didn't just sit idly by while he fought. Right?

If that was the case then what's the point? _ If I cannot rely on his power as well as my own then I might as well not have him. _Her heart skipped a beat as Vaatu stirred within her, probably reminding her that he could hear her ridicule him even if Yuu could not.

"Are you done with your tantrum?" Eska sighed. "I have other things to do today."

Yuu's scowl did not relent as Eska hoped it would've. Instead she muttered, "why don't you drive your sword through my stomach and be done with me?"

"Too bloody, I'll have to sit there one day. How unsightly would it be for me if it was stained with your blood?"

"At least then I'd always be with you!"

"That's gross."

"You wouldn't sit in my blood?" Yuu teased. "You don't love me that much?"

"It'd be sticky. It'd be a mess. I'd have to change my clothes every time I sat down. That's more troublesome than it is anything else."

Yuu grumbled, "I'll be sure to die here then. How does a dagger through the heart sound?"

"Like a bad love story."

"Poison?"

"People would suspect I killed you then."

"Assassin?"

"No one wants you dead enough to pay money for it. It'd come right back to me."

Yuu sighed, "there goes my plans for the evening then." She bouncily stood up and planted a kiss on the lips of her wife. "I'm going to pay Desna a visit. Have fun with your...whatever it is you need to do today."

As she stood by the door Yuu turned and with a grin looked back at her. "This isn't over. I'm going to get you back for moving like an old man today."

Eska smiled back, perhaps a bit more devilish than she had meant it, "I love you too, Yuu."

The door closed behind her, and it took a few seconds before Eska could no longer hear the patter of her bouncy footsteps in hall. She almost didn't last that long.

As soon as she was sure Yuu was gone her nails began scratching against the burning of her chest until she began to bleed all over herself.

"Get out!" she cursed. "Get out! You're hurting me! Get out! Get out!"

Vaatu knew she was talking to him. There couldn't have been anyone else. Still he took his sweet time, drawing pleasure from the sounds of her cries before he actually withdrew himself.

There was relief the moment he was gone, though it didn't come without pain. He was too violent. His extraction caused her mouth and eyes to bloody. There was no way she'd be able to so much as walk down the halls without people asking questions. But for a moment without him burning out her insides it was worth it.

"For all the pain you cause you could've at least helped me out when I needed it." She cussed at him.

Vaatu often took the shape of a man when he appeared before her, or anyone else for that matter. They definitely were not equals, but something about him in this form created that illusion. Perhaps that's why Eska had the courage to get as upset with him as she had. Her father taught her to treat spirits as her superior, and that knowledge was instilled so deeply within her that she wouldn't even dare to look at them the wrong way. But Vaatu…

Vaatu tested her faith and her restraint.

He had a deep, chilling voice. It was enough to even scare Eska, as unbending as she thought she was. "Playing games with your wife is a waste of my time." And with an idle look he continued, "and yours. Is that what you intend to use my power for?"

Eska scoffed, "if I cannot trust you to help me with something so simple how can I trust you with my life in the middle of a battle?"

Vaatu laughed, "silly girl, you've never been in battle."

"If Desna keeps up the way he is that might just change."

Vaatu raised a perfectly formed eyebrow at her and continued his aggravating laughter. "You are so strange. You believe yourself to be stronger than him, no?"

"I'm strong enough to handle you…"

"Barely," he knelt beside her and closely peered at her with fascination as he watched her suck in breaths quickly. "You are more determined than he is, I'll give you that. One day in that boy and he whined and stirred as though I were killing him."

At the time, Eska looked down on Desna, as she always did. He acted so weak, as though their father hadn't spent most of his life preparing him for that moment. As though it were _that_ bad a thing. He threw himself onto the ground and cried, scratching at his skin, begging for the spirit to leave his body. It was only when he began to choke on his own blood did their father finally ask Vaatu to listen and leave Desna's body. He spent nearly a month in healing rooms after that, much to Eska's humor. He was so bad at being a boy.

Eska thought he was exaggerating. He had to have been. There was no way fusing with a being as powerful as Vaatu could've been that bad.

But she soon after they fused for the first time she learned just how wrong she was. First was his influence. She had worried about the dark essence that surrounded him when they first met, but her father trusted him, and she trusted her father, so it was ignored. But to actually be fused with that essence and to feel it inside of her was something different. It was everything unsacred about the world, everything violent and ill and it was all inside of her, building up until she was sure she'd burst.

Then there was the pain, the constant unrelenting burning that threatened to consume her.

Finally, there was his weight of him inside her. He was nearly too much. Him and all he brought took too much from her body. Like an unborn child that fed off the life of its mother.

Desna had not been exaggerating his pain, Eska was just better at hiding it.

"When will I be able to bend earth like Korren can?" Vaatu smiled.

"You'll have to journey into the spirit world with me if you want that. But if you ask me if it's necessary, I'd say no. You won't need it. You'll be strong enough to take out the entire southern fleet and their Avatar with my help."

Eska found no comfort in his words, but nodded anyways. "And if Yuu were to have a child right now-"

"My power would be it's as well. Like we promised. Is there reason behind your sudden doubt?"

"No." He didn't believe her, and she knew it. But still he smiled and accepted the answer without complaint. "I'm fine now, let's fuse back. I have things to get to today."

-X-

Desna was not getting any better with his training. It was almost comical how a boy of his age and physique could be so bad at things a boy should be able to do. Fighting was a necessity regardless of your ranking. With threats like the Southerners, who were always stronger than they were until recently, and the Fire Nation, who were greedy and relentless, and simple everyday things like the possibility of sudden death, no man was in a position to not at the very least know basics.

And yet, Desna refused to learn. He would rather compromise his life as though he was puny and pathetic, or as though he could rely on someone always being there for him. He was not significantly smaller than his sister, though smaller is still smaller no matter how it's put. At least he had a decent build, but he didn't even put that much to use.

_If he would just work on his agility, or even his stance, he would have some hope. _Eska was almost too embarrassed to watch him train. _He's been in training since he was young, why can't he just- ugh._ She winced as he fell and Nori, the man who was responsible for teaching him, held a wooden sword to his neck.

"Brother," Yuu called out to him in a bothersome tone, "if this were not a mock battle you'd be dead," she giggled. Yuu found entertainment in watching him struggle against his opponent. She'd giggle quietly with Eska on some days and loudly tease him on others.

"I slipped." Desna frowned, standing. "The floor was just shined, it very easy to slip!"

Eska groaned. As the days grew closer, she found it harder and harder to laugh at his utter failure. It was almost unfair to her how badly he failed at everything he attempted to do. What was he good for more than just sitting around and looking pretty? Yet their father refused to give up hope on him. A smart man like Unalaq knew that she was the better option to send out to fight, but it seemed as though he would rather wait till his son was dead before him and she was the only option left before he'd send her out to lead.

"Don't you want to join the army?" She tried very hard not to yell at him. He was still her superior, and though it was hard, she respected that. The least he could do in return was be a _good _superior. Still, she saw him wince, as though her words had hurt more than his fall. "Father is putting a lot of faith into you and you won't even try a little harder for his sake. Should he fall and die, is this the way you want him to see you last?"

Nori stepped forward before Desna could do what Eska assumed was cry. It would be fitting, considering crying about failure was easier than trying to do something about it. "Erm- he has been getting better. Give him another year, he will surely match you by then."

"A year?" Eska scoffed. "Giving him so much as another day would be a mercy. How will he rule when-"

"That's enough Eska!" Her father's voice was so sharp and abrupt that it silenced her. He'd been so quiet in the background that she forget he was watching too. There was no shame on his face as he looked at his son, and to that Eska frowned. Of course he wasn't ashamed. Desna could fall over upon his sword and he would still find something about it to praise.

He put a heavy hand on her shoulder to calm her. "He's trying his best and that's enough. That's all we can ask him for."

"What kind of Chief isn't ready to fight for their tribe?" Yuu giggled.

"Oh, but Desna isn't Chief yet. He is a prince. He still has time."

"That's if you don't croak tonight," Yuu smiled up at him and quick enough to be respectful, added, "Father."

Eska shook her head. "You're leaving the tribe to him?"

"You have a problem with that? It's only right a father leaves his throne to his son. I didn't expect you to look so upset over it."

"He can barely protect himself much less a whole tribe! Are you truly going insane? Or are you having a jest with me?" Unalaq bared her no thought, as though she was a troublesome child having a fit, as he turned away to have a private word with his son.

Inside her she felt Vaatu stir, feeding off the anger building up inside her. This was the type of thing he loved, she was coming to learn.

Eska didn't hate her brother, she hated the way people treated her brother. He was hardly worthy of all the praise he got. As for herself, what did she get? A pat on the back and a good job from people who wouldn't even look twice at her when Desna was in the room.

Desna. A boy who cuts himself trying to hold his own sword. Who trips over his own feet if he's not careful. Who knows nothing of battle or of ruling because he'd much rather run off to do who-knows-what.

Eska hated it with everything she was. _That boy is going to one day be chief, and I? What will I be more than his muscle? Someone he can order around as he pleases without thought or care? _

"Hey," Yuu snapped her fingers in front of Eska's eyes, "calm down. You're bleeding." She pulled a handkerchief from her breasts and used it to wipe away the blood dripping from Eska's nose.

With glimmering eyes Yuu leaned in and whispered, "hey, if Desna were to, you know, _die_, you would be left in charge right?"

"Do not hurt my brother. He didn't cause this. Idiocracy did." Eska warned, causing Yuu to pout.

"You're no fun today."

"It isn't a joke Yuu. What am I to them more than a vessel to hold something he could not? When we win the war that boy will have absolute control over the south and the north. He will deal with diplomatic people and events and I-"

"Will be what everyone is truly afraid of. People will look at him and see your face and that is what matters. I will have your child and it will bare your face and that alone will send shivers down people's spines. What does your title matter? There is nothing in a title but a word. It's your strength that counts." Yuu leaned up to kiss her wife, only to be met with a cheek and a cold glare.

"Those are kind words. Offer them again later. I'm in no mood to hear them now."

Eska knew her exit was not a quiet one. She dropped her sword on the floor as she left, and it _clanked _loudly. The doors also slammed shut heavily after she left. She could only imagine how she looked stomping down the corridors with a bloody nose and a frown. At least the servants were smart enough not even make eye contact with her.

_That was an interesting turn of events. _It was rare Vaatu spoke to her while they were fused.

_You fuck. _She cursed back at him. _You're enjoying this. _

_You wanted so desperately to get stronger. And for what? So your father would notice? _The humor in his voice did nothing more than rouse her. He wasn't of this world, so of course he wouldn't understand why it had been so important to her. _You want to get strong enough to be noticed, Eska? Keep this anger then. It helps both of us. _

"It isn't about being noticed!" She hissed. "Shut up, would you? You're a lot more tolerable when you do nothing!"

"Eska!" She didn't notice her father had followed after her. His old face wrinkled with..._worry? _No, she wasn't a boy. He didn't care for her sanity as long as she was doing her job. _Anger then?_

Yes. he trained her to be respectful to spirits, and he just caught her yelling at Vaatu.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled submissively. "It won't happen again."

"I'd hope not. You are to get along with him." In his hand he held her discarded sword, which he gently placed back at her hip. "I don't want you throwing that out again. You're going to need it one day."

She scoffed. "One day when I'm fighting under the rule of my brother? Thanks."

Unalaq laughed a disgusting old man laugh that annoyed Eska to her bones. "I don't think you need worry about that."

"Has he relinquished his rights to me?" She asked hopefully.

"No. He was actually quite happy. He's excited, you should've seen him. I haven't seen him smile that much since he was a child."

Eska made a face, "right."

"Oh stop it! Did you think I would let all your hard work go unrewarded?" Eska tried not to get her hopes up for what her father was about to say next, but it was too tempting. She fought a smile as she raised an eyebrow.

What was it? Is he giving her complete control of the army? Even a portion of it would give her some happiness. Maybe he was letting her handle diplomatic affairs? That would be fine by her. Anything that granted her some well deserved power would be fine.

"I'm giving your brother the North. But I'm giving you the South." He said proudly. Eska felt her smile completely fade.

Anything would've been great, yes. Except that. "As in The Southern Water Tribe?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What else could I mean?"

Vaatu began to laugh in her ears as she became angry again. "Father, I mean you no disrespect, but you are giving Desna the prominence of the North and me….the vast wasteland that is the South. I hear sunlight is a rare occurrence there! Tell me, what am I to build there? What am I to rule over? Roots and dry forest? Garbage covered snow? Oh...wait, I know! It is the drunk men and the whores they call women you want me to go and foster!" She hissed through clenched teeth.

"Eska! Would you stop complaining for once in your life?" He didn't become upset, as though he had expected his teenage daughter would react that way. "Listen to me, the spirit inside the Southern Prince is called Raava. She is much more gentle than Vaatu, which is why she is right for your brother. Korren is bound to return home at some point, and when he does, you will be waiting to take away all that he has. The north needs a gentler touch than the south. Which why Desna is right for the throne here, and you are right for the throne there. Trust me, my child, it seems barren and bleak now, but once you get there you will find that the southern people are just as strong and as willed as you are. You will make a fine Chief there. I believe in you."

"I don't want-"

"It isn't what you hoped for, but you will come to find promise in the lands there. I'm not going to be around forever. I want to see your coronation and ruling before my death. You will go in two weeks time. Okay?"

"They do not treat spirits with the same respect as we do. Their religion-" She stopped short. Changing her thought to a much more serious issue. "Father, once the war is over, how will they integrate? Much less handle the vision we have? You're sending me to lose my life. I alone cannot change a hundred years worth of mindset."

"You will have Yuu with you. She knows a thing or two about force, does she not?"

-X-

"This is where you'll train." The guard boy said, leading the Prince to an opening somewhere in the palace. Korren hadn't been paying too much attention. His mind was somewhere far off, lingering on different topics that held his interest for only so long. The day had been long and boring.

After a brief meeting with Hiroshi about the boy who they were sending to his home, Hiroshi trapped him with the boy's elder brother and went off to do whatever it is he does with his day when he isn't drinking or playing with whores. There was no time for questions, as there usually wasn't, and because of that Korren was left unsatisfied most of the time. Hiroshi only met with him so often, which was to be expected. Until his wedding to Asami he had no true title in the Fire Nation, aside from Water Tribe boy.

At least the boy who they were sending seemed eager enough. A boy that excited about doing a job couldn't fail. Korren had some faith in him. He looked strong enough to handle the men he was going to have to stand before, but in his face Korren could see he was still a child, perhaps not much older than Korren was when he was given his battle gear and sent off to fight in the war. Though he was an earth colony boy, Korren could tell from the green he wore, and while that was a cause for worry at first sight he concluded that there was no way Hiroshi would send him if he couldn't handle it.

_Right?_ Hiroshi could be incompetent at times, but he wasn't so foolish as to send an untrained boy to the South…._was he? _He groaned, he would've much prefered to go himself, but, once again, being unmarried got in the way. Hiroshi made it clear that until his union was secure, Korren would be going nowhere. It was becoming tiresome to fight such an unrelenting man.

Korren shook the thought from his head to focus on what the guard boy was showing him. The area was empty and stretched for a good distance. It was surrounded with a balcony though, so the people inside the palace passing by would be able to watch him practice if they wished. He sighed. Bored with the thought as quickly as it came.

He could tell the guard boy was bored too. Neither of them wanted to be with each other, but Hiroshi ordered him to show the _Prince-to-be_ around and so it was done. How dutiful.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Korren cocked an eyebrow at him. _What does he want me to say? Was I to break into applause at an empty space? _

"What do you think? All the best trained here you know, you can at least look at bit more appreciative!"

"Oh, sorry. Let me take a moment to appreciate being kidnapped and brought here. Then forced to train for an element I hate using." Korren dramatically turned towards the space, took a deep breath in a gasp and brought his hands together, clapping furiously. "Wow. Amazing. Just amazing. I have never seen anything like it. You know, when I was growing up we had to train outside, in bitter cold, under piles of snow. My father would throw buckets of cold water down my back to make sure I didn't slack and I still came out just barely mediocre. But _all_ the best people I don't care about trained here so I'm sure-"

"You're a little shit you know that?" The guard boy said. He's brave. Korren laughed to himself. "You get to train under one of best teachers in the fire nation. Hiroshi is leaving everything to you. Hell, he's even making preparations for things that won't even happen for years to come! You get to marry Asami! Asami! The fucking princess! Do you have eyes, Korren? Do you see how pretty she is? She's going to be yours! And you're going to have wealth and power and fame, and all you can do is stand here and bitch! As though you have it _that _hard."

Korren clenched his fists at his side. It wasn't worth it hit him, was it? Still, how nice would it be to wipe that look off his face. "Excuse me? You dragged me from my home! _My home_! In the middle of winter! During a war that just got worse! My people need me! They need me and instead I'm here with you yelling at me because I won't pretend that I haven't a worry! Do you know how long we've been fighting this war? And we haven't fallen yet, but now, thanks to you, we just might. Not that you give a fuck!"

The guard boy laughed till his pale face turned as red as his uniform. "Your people need you huh? Riiight. I suppose that's why they left you there to die in the snow? Your people couldn't care less about you, yet you have all this passion for them. That's hilarious." He frowned. "Why don't you just sit down and enjoy your free ride through life? You will inherit all of this, plus the earth colonies, and if by then you still give a shit about your little tribe, that as well!"

"A good leader doesn't fight to save lives just because his people like him. That doesn't matter. Their personal opinions of me doesn't determine whether they live or die."

"You water tribe people are so fucking weird. There is nothing for you there! Don't you see that? Hiroshi saved your ass from being killed by your own people if nothing else!"

Korren knew there was some truth in that, and there was nothing he could say in return that wouldn't just end up being refuted by some stupid claim so he kept on walking.

"You really should thank him you know."

"Shut up! I'm not going to kiss his feet for something I didn't even want."

"You don't get it."

"Enough. I don't want to hear anymore of this. You have a twisted sense of importance. I don't wish to entertain it."

"I'm the twisted one? A man saved your life and yet you feel no sense of gratitude towards him. My only hope is that he comes to his senses before you can defile Asami." He huffed and strode past Korren, to continue leading him around the palace. Korren wondered if he felt a sense of importance by walking ahead of him.

"Before I can?" Korren laughed. "Who's to say I haven't already?"

He twitched. It was slight, but it was still there. "Asami's traditional when it comes to her duties. And she's the most important thing in this union of our nation's. She wouldn't risk it in case her father changes his mind. She isn't an idiot."

Korren suddenly remembered his name. _Mako_. Yes, he was the the boy Yasuko wanted Asami to marry. They were betrothed once. That perhaps added fuel to the hate fire Mako felt towards him.

Korren couldn't care less what his feelings for her were...or are. Or how Mako felt about him.

Asami was fun to be with for the time being, but eventually that would change. He's never had a woman who hasn't strayed away from him before. The only difference with Asami would be that he'd be the one to push her away. He couldn't risk her finding out anything about his truth and she wouldn't be satisfied with just kissing for the rest of their lives. It was best not to feel anything more than what he felt for her now and hope that she felt nothing for him.

"Sounds to me like you're jealous," he taunted anyways. "Did she not kiss you? I remember her saying something about me being her first-"

"You touched her?!" He spun around abruptly, raising threatening fists at Korren. "There's no way she'd let you- you guys aren't married yet! Did you- did you..._force_ her?" Korren grinned at the accusation. If only Mako knew. He could barely stand being naked himself, much less to force someone else to do it-

A fist connected with his face. The blow didn't hurt as much as it caught him off guard. He had certainly suffered worse. His delayed reaction seemed to baffle Mako some, as the next fist he threw came much slower, and lighter, than the last. Korren easily caught his one in the palm of his hand and threw a punch in return in Mako's face. Unlike the guard he was not kind about the punch. Korren heard something _crunch_.

_Well, my hand isn't broken..so... _Mako's face bloodied quickly. "You're soft!" Korren said with humor. "Bet that was your first time getting punched. What are you to her now that you guys aren't getting married? Her guard dog?"

Mako still had the courage to get up and continue fighting him, though he stumbled, the pain in his face probably too much for him. "If you knew her like I did, you'd know she doesn't need a guard dog! I'm going to kill you!"

"I've never had to fight over a woman before you know. I must say, not as satisfying as I imagined. Is the prize the girl or getting to punch you in the face again? I don't know which is better."

Mako groaned out of annoyance. "Are you fucking serious? Not even this is good enough for you? You're an entitled ass!"

Korren laughed, genuinely. "That's Mr. Entitled Ass to you. And at least my nose isn't broken!"

Mako laughed too, in a more bragging nature than that of the Prince. The blood from his nose ran into his mouth and bloodied his teeth. "Asami and I grew up together, you know. She trusts me. She comes to me when she needs to cry. You're nothing more than her duty. No better than sitting behind a desk and reading documents all day. So if you hurt her-"

"I'll save you the speech and let you know that she isn't important to me. I have a duty to her as her future husband but nothing else."

Mako's grin widened. He stood up in his stiffly straight way and winced as he wiped his nose in the sleeve of his uniform. "Good evening, Princess." He bowed as Asami strode down the hall. The look on her face clearly that of anger.

_Mm, how cliche. _Korren thought humorously to himself. He'd certainly never seen this side of her before._ It should be interesting. _

"Good evening," Korren mocked Mako's bow to her, perhaps feeling a bit too victorious having broken Mako's nose.

It was only evident that Asami was crying when she was finally in front him. They were angry tears, but tears nonetheless. "Do you get along with no one?"

"Pardon?"

"Why do you upset everyone around you? Mako is my friend! You do not hit my friends! What is wrong with you? What if you...I dunno...killed him or something!"

"From a punch?" He hadn't meant it to sound mocking, but he became increasingly more aware of the way he sounded when Asami's frown deepened and more tears flowed from her eyes.

Her handmaiden, that stood sheepishly behind her, grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her back. "Forgive her Prince. It's been a long day and she's still mourning the loss of Ginger."

Korren's smile faded, as he looked between Mako and Asami. "Am I the bad guy here?" He huffed. "Why? I didn't even get the pleasure of starting it!"

"There's not a scratch on you!"

"I can't help it if I fight better than he does."

Asami sighed, closing her eyes to take a moment to gather herself. "If I can ask anything of you, as my future husband, it's that you do not harm my friends anymore."

"Sorry…" Korren said half-heartedly, not entirely sure why he was at fault.

"Mako, I need a word with you." Asami said, trying to wipe away her tears. Mako was now bleeding into the palm of his hand, but he nodded dutifully regardless. He pushed past Korren as he followed Asami down the corridor, sparing him only one glance, full of content.

-X-

"Is that the kind of guys you're into?" Mako could talk a lot for someone who had a broken nose. It baffled Asami. Shouldn't he be in pain? He raised an eyebrow at her as he waited for her to answer.

"Does it not hurt you to talk?" Asami wondered aloud, her voice still wet with tears.

"I'm just curious."

"What does it matter? Like he said, we only just met. That isn't enough time for me to-" She stopped crying as her voice began to break and the tears began to flow again.

"Bullshit. Don't give me that. You're just saying that because he said it. Don't tell me that's why you're crying?" He stopped her in her tracks and pulled her into a deep hug the best he could without dripping blood on her. "Men like him are jerks."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" She snapped. "I had to watch my friend die! Do you think I care enough to cry about him right now?" She pushed him off of her.

It hadn't been that long since the bombing. It would be a week soon. A week since Ginger died and Asami couldn't do anything about it. It was the only the thing on her mind since. The image of Ginger lying there, a thick shard of glass impaling her chest haunted her every time she closed her eyes. Not even what she had witnessed in the South had hurt her this much. Perhaps because she knew Ginger personally, and those men were nothing more than men.

Since then, it was discovered that revolutionaries were behind the bombing.

There were a lot of different uprisings in the fire nation against the throne. Many of them for different reasons. Some groups fought for the same in varying ways.

It didn't matter because as the Princess, Asami should have looked at them all the same. As threats. As traitors to the nation and to the crown. Some of them were few short of serial killers.

News outlets made decent assumptions as to their reasons, as anyone with common sense would have. Asami, the Princess, was on a ship full of the daughters of rich or noble men. Not to mention the soon to be crowned Prince of the Fire Nation was also aboard. If they had succeed like they had planned, it would have been the best way to get the Fire Lord's attention. By killing his heir, show him that they meant business. Only they hadn't succeed, and Hiroshi didn't even flinch because Korren and Asami were both okay.

"What is it?" Mako asked.

Asami sniffed, "You know how the revolutionaries were behind the bombing?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Take a guess who's insignia they found on carved into the boat?"

Mako frowned deeply, clenching a fist at his side. "Don't tell me it's that Water Tribe idiot! Why would he be so stupid to carve his insignia into the ship? Did he think he think we'd be too stupid to realize it?"

Asami nodded. "Who knows. Varrick has his reasons. Don't arrest him yet. Don't even so much as let him know you are aware of what he's done. But I do want you to tell him I want an audience with him. I want to see the look on his face when I tell him I'm going to kill him."

* * *

***Comes out from hiding* Hello. Look I finally got off my lazy butt and wrote something. :) **

**Eska and Yuu were a LOT of fun to write. I love their relationship. hehe. **

**Please leave me a comment, or thought, or criticism. *I'm always a slut comments* **

**More soon. **

**Till next time **

***Flies away* **


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm back. I know its been like 84 years but hello! Enjoy this long ass chapter as my apology. **

* * *

**Chapter 9.5- The Phoenix Revolt**

Varrick was a very easy man to please. He required nothing more than what he asked for, and expected nothing less. He wasn't complicated or hard to bargain with unlike some people Asami has had the misfortune of doing business with.

Varrick, up until recently, would've done near anything once he got something out of it in return, because that's the way things worked when you lived in the fire nation. Their strength, unity, and care for one another wasn't real. It doesn't take long to realize that everyone operated on a "You do something for me, I do something for you" basis, no one ever does anything 'just because', like how Prince Korren did things for his people simply because they were his responsibility.

It's how the social ladder is climbed, how money is made, and most importantly how allies are formed.

Asami assumed that's how Varrick made his living, how he came to remain such an important figure in Fire Nation customs. He was an inventor, which wasn't all that impressive considering everyone was an inventor in fire nation. Everyone always had some new gimmick they were trying to sell, better yet, some name they were trying to make for themselves. But Varrick had managed to achieve success and keep it, and as a water tribe man. Under normal circumstances, he would've been forgotten, or even replaced by someone deemed more _acceptable_ to be a public figure.

Asami was right to suspect foul play. Her father was his friend when they were children,and it was rumored at some point that the bond between them was a strong one. Asami didn't know how much truth there was in that knowing the type of man her father came to be, but regardless of what was true, she was sure Hiroshi had done nothing to help him along the way.

Varrick reminded her of a snake, slick and cunning, slithering along without anyone noticing him until he was ready to strike.

But that was his best quality, what she loved most about him. He did his true work quietly and with passion. His zest was saved for cover ups and appearances.

For these reasons Asami knew they'd make good friends, or at the very least partners. For a moment, she had even grown to believe herself just like him, an easy pleaser. She never wanted anything more than what she asked for. Nor did she ever want her work half-assed. She worked quietly as he did, though she never needed anything spectacular to cover up her work. She was a Princess. All she had to do was cry, seem saddened for a moment. Perhaps even offer the press words of grief then be on her way. Lying is an easy thing to do when there is power involved.

She considered herself the same as him, and she hoped he had thought the same.

Until the moment her ship went up in flames and smoke that is. Then, she wanted to see him suffer. She loved Tahno as a brother, and hoped one day he and Ginger would've been happy together and she never wanted to see him cry, but her hatred for Varrick had become so salient that if it meant Varrick died by her order, she wouldn't mind watching Tahno sob over his dead body the same way she had to watch her friends cry over Ginger's.

She had people she hated more than him, but at the moment, nothing would bring her greater satisfaction than his suffering.

Asami was tall for her age, but compared to Varrick she had might as well been a child standing next to her father. Still, she had no doubts about her ability to intimidate him. She was high born, and her people would've considered him nothing more than water tribe scum if he hadn't cheated his way to the top. She had the power to take everything away from him and he couldn't do anything about it.

A long time had passed before she spoke, "for a man who knows I want him dead, you look awfully calm," she said. She tried to relax into her seat as well, going over reasons why she might need him in the future to keep from ordering Mako to draw his sword.

Varrick smiled. "Dead is a harsh term. I'd prefer 'disappeared', it sounds nicer, don't you agree?"

"Do I look like I'm here to make jokes with you?"

Varrick laughed at his silly little quip because Asami would not. "You shouldn't look so serious. You'll start to look like your mother and well...one of her is enough." He relaxed backward into his seat and glanced idly around the dimly lit room, until his eyes settled on something behind Asami that had no particular value or importance.

Suddenly he snapped his fingers, as though he had just remembered something important and in a sing-song tone giggled, "he's really giving you to a water tribe boy isn't he?"

Asami stared at him with golden eyes growing less and less patient. "Varrick-"

"I would've never thought he would do something like that! But well- there it is! I've been meaning to ask you if I could meet him again. I want it to be like a water-tribe-to-water-tribe type thing you know. Say, isn't he a Chief? We could talk about expanding Varrick Industries all the way out there, officially you know? I'm sure they could use an upgrade by now. I would've asked for a word with him last time, but he didn't seem like he was in a good mood."

"Varrick!" Asami snapped, "you bombed my ship! Do you have _any_ idea how angry I am with you?" Asami hated crying during their meetings, and usually she was good at keeping it in until they parted ways, but she could feel her resolve fail her as her eyes blurred and a tear wetted her cheek. She swallowed. "My friend died because of you. As for the rest of them...Dammit Varrick. They must be so scarred. If I were you I wouldn't be so calm. I want you to suffer for what you did!"

Varrick paused for a moment, his smile fading into an expression much more serious. He leaned forward onto the table that separated them. "Asami," he started, "did Ginger truly mean that much to you?"

"What are you implying? She was my friend."

Varrick scoffed. "You hate your friends."

"Not all of them."

"So had it been someone else you'd be okay?"

"Asshole! What about Tahno? She was going to marry him! Don't you feel anything? You killed your son's fiancee! Does he know that?"

Varrick chuckled, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Tahno is grieving now, but he's a boy. You know what he's like. In a week or two he will forget she even existed outside his wet dreams and move on. Anyhow, if it's any consolation to you and your bruises, I hadn't expected you'd be with them that evening."

There were downsides to working with a man who would do anything. Varrick doesn't care who he hurts along the way and Asami had tried not to as well, but the pain of loss cut her deeper than she ever imagined. There was no way she could ignore it like he did. Moments like this made her wonder if she was weak, or if people like him were just truly heartless.

"I never gave you permission-" Asami spoke lowly, to avoid her voice cracking in front of him. It was bad enough she was crying, she didn't want to sound like a child as well.

"You didn't need to. You were gone for over a month. It wasn't clear as to whether you were coming back or not. I'd been planning that one out for too long. You know how short of an attention span your father has. He needed to know that we hadn't given up. What better way to do it than to potentially kill the rich little girls of his court?"

"They never did anything wrong!"

"Their silence was wrong! Come on, Asami, I thought we were on the same page about that."

"That's a bit extreme don't you think? We're children Varrick. I can help you because of my title, because one day it will be my duty to. But at the end of the day, I'm still young and they are still young. You want us to bloody our hands-"

"It's funny," Varrick laughed, "you had no problem with children being involved, or death, or who we were targeting until it was people important to you. Weren't you the one who said we'd lose people along the way? Why is it suddenly an issue when it's your people? Stop crying, you haven't suffered. You have no right to be upset."

Everyone had their place in the Fire Nation. Pure born Fire Nation citizens belonged at the top, the very top if they had wealth. Mixed blood could work their way up if they tried hard enough, but over all, their lives they would lead wouldn't be that of suffering. Pure born Water Tribe people who didn't denounce their heritage belonged at the bottom, only slightly above those who traveled over from the Earth Colonies.

Revolutions had been common in the last few years of this system, but none had been as successful as The Phoenix Revolt.

Varrick founded it in protest of the vile way people were treated. The lower class people wanted a new Emperor, one that was not related to Hiroshi and one that would treat them equally and with respect.

Of course, not everyone had agreed with this because the rules of the nation were fairly simple. Proclaim yourself Fire Nation, and you would be. If you were born in the Fire Nation then you had a good start...or at least that's what Hiroshi promised. What's a culture when you could live comfortably?

Asami had seen the truth behind this though, because she knew her father only did it for laughs, just to see how many people actually believed him. He didn't care what happened to people like them so long as his nation continued to flourish. So she joined Varrick. She wanted to be more of a supporter than anything else. But her title made that complicated. She had her bias. She didn't support everything they wanted to do, on account of people uselessly getting hurt, losing her support would mean plans backfiring and therefore she became a sort of leader for the leader. Varrick came to her when he wanted to do something radical and with her approval things moved forward.

She gave him information and funds when he needed it, and he struck. She reported to him when her father took notice and when he didn't, what new laws were going to be set in place and so on and together they acted accordingly.

At the very least, Hiroshi knew there was a spy in his court, but he would never suspect her, because she was a girl. And he would never suspect Mako's loyalty was to her first because Mako has literally killed to be where he's at.

Asami wiped her eyes and frowned at him. "Not everyone can be an activist, Varrick. You do something like this again I will make sure you regret it."

Varrick smirked. "Try it, and I will expose you. What do you think the penalty for treason is these days?"

Mako didn't need to be told to draw his sword and hold it and Varrick's neck. Blood trickled down to his chest, dirtying the white of his shirt.

"Who would believe you? Besides, Mako would kill you before you could get a word out. Exposing me is not one of your options if you wish to live another day or at the very least not insult my father."

Mako smiled, "Could you imagine the look on his face? His naive daughter- a traitor? He would call you an idiot- then kill you. He has a knack for setting things on fire these days. He doesn't like to feel like he's being lied to."

Varrick held his hands up in surrender. "Okay okay. You're just like him. I get it."

"Whatever. Mako," Asami nodded and Mako let the sword fall from Varrick's neck. "I want you to publicly announce your sorrow and condolences to Ginger's family as well as supply your best sato-mobiles to the police. Let everyone know how much you do not support these actions. Understood?"

Varrick sighed, but nodded.

Asami continued, "And about Prince Korren," Mako suppressed a groan. "I'm doing this for him more than I am you. I can get you a private meeting with him, though I can't promise he'll be pleasant. I think he needs something...I'm not sure. Someone he can relate to probably. A man with his heritage in a position of power will be good for him. Come. Wear blue."

* * *

**Chapter 10- Patience**

The excitement of the Fire Nation's sudden appearance and Prince Korren's absence hadn't quite died down yet when Griff presented himself in front of the councilmen as the new Chief of the South. Alongside him was his son, Eiji, who eagerly bounced in his new 'special' seat.

It wasn't an official naming that granted Griff the power to make such a bold move in front of his brothers but with Tonraq's death and Korren's leave, the south needed someone capable of guiding them, someone to tell them what their next move would be against the rising army of the North and the few fire nation men who were left behind to 'watch' them.

The elders had yet to object. Their silence most of all was what convinced Griff he was right to take the lead. Perhaps after everything was settled they'd consider him honorable enough to follow after Tonraq in chiefdom. But for the moment, naming the new family was irrelevant compared to all the things they needed to do first.

In the two months or so Prince Korren had been gone the Northern attacks were becoming more and more frequent, and with that more aggressive every time. Rumors in the South spread as easily as wildfire and within a short week a new one that speculated a surrender buzzed through the tribe.

They would never forgive him as a leader, or as a man for that matter if he let it come to a surrender. Still, there was nothing him or anyone could say to calm their worries. There had never been such a state of panic in the South before, and not even the elders were equipped to properly deal with it.

Griff scratched his beard, and eyed his son idly as he thought about it. At eight, Eiji wasn't old enough to fully grasp what war even was. He was simply happy to have been beside his father in what he knew was a position of power. He sat up straight and proudly, but swung his legs with mindless excitement as they hung off his seat.

The last thing Griff wanted for was it to last yet another generation. He had lost one son to this relentless battle already, he wouldn't risk another. He was convinced without doubt that he could, and in fact would, do what The Great Chief Tonraq and his _son _could not.

"We could go to them before they come to us." Griff suggested firmly. "Attack them before-"

"That's nonsense. We don't have enough men to enter Northern territory. And definitely not enough benders. We'd be outnumbered- again."

"And what of their allies? It's unlikely they'd put men to guard their borders when they have their monsters." Barse shot him down, earning a glare from the bigger man. "What? Am I wrong for stopping you from leading us to our deaths?"

No one else in the hut had anything to add, or rather to object to. Few were even attentively paying attention. Their faces seems blank, devoid of any hope, as though they had already accepted that they would die.

Griff huffed, "if we can barricade the North, then we can hold their attacks for a little while and then-" he stopped short, realizing he hadn't thought out his plan completely.

"Then what? Hold their attacks while our people sit here and wait till they kill us all and then come after them?" Barse challenged. "Is this a game to you? See how long we can go before we finally die?"

"I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas. The North has always been weak. If we can we can get pass the spirits and force them to send men to fight then we have a chance. Their valor is not as strong as their ability to form allies."

His response caused a few men to grumble in various places of the hut. Some of not wanting to fight spirits anymore, others not wanting to die the way the Chief had.

Fighting was what the South was known for, but it was becoming tiresome. Their days felt more numbered than ever before. Victory was not something they could see for themselves and it was becoming more and more painful to watch their brothers die and know they would never be avenged so long as the North held this victory streak.

"This is getting us nowhere, at this rate we'd have a better chance sending someone North to reason with those fanatics than anything else." Barse said, angrily.

The hut stirred a bit with men looking to one another, considering the very possibility that by the end of the year they'd become a northerner.

"No one is going North," Griff huffed. "Not if to talk to them at least."

"I have a little girl," a voice picked up, straining with desperation. "I don't want to think that she might marry some northern man- you've heard the stories. You know what Unalaq has done to his children. What if he does that to my-"

"Korren could've fought them," another said, mumbling lowly under the voice of the worried father.

"On his own even," someone replied. "For a half-man, he fought well."

"If it came to this while he were still alive, do you think Chief Tonraq would've gone North himself? To reason with them?"

"Probably."

"Then should we consider it?"

Griff snarled, deep and angry. For the first time he agreed with Korren on one thing. To stand in front of his men and speak, as the person in charge, was a frustrating thing. Everyone had opinions and worries and it didn't do any good to stand and listen to them all clash. Worse of all, Griff knew what it was like to sit there and do the same, as though his mumblings would change the Chief's mind somehow.

"Tonraq is dead. Korren may as well be dead. I don't want to hear about either of them in this room until we reach a solid conclusion. Especially not Korren. If he cared as much as he said he did he would be back already."

The men did not completely silence themselves. Instead they turned to look at him as they spoke and continued on, "It would have never come to this if Tonraq had just let us conquer them while they were still weak."

"That was never his goal." Barse responded, "nor will it be our goal. Please, let's not derail."

"With Tonraq now dead, don't you think it's time to change that?"

"Did I not just say not to derail? We still need to fix the problem at hand. After that's done, we'll see where it...takes...us…" he trailed off as the door to hut was forced open, and in stumbled a pudgy looking boy with a red face and a green coat, far too thin for the winter at hand.

"Green boy!" Eiji pointed.

Almost all the men in the hut stood to face the boy, who was clearly unprepared to see the faces he did. He was rather small, compared to the men in hut, his skin was too pale and too polished, his eyes too green and lost.

He rang with unfamiliarity, and so he was a threat- as small he was.

"Who are you?" Griff bellowed, his hand twitching around the hilt of his sword, ready to pull should the boy's answer be wrong.

The boy's eyes went wide quickly as he reacted to the men ready to stand against him. He hardly moved in his spot, frozen, more from fear than from the cold. He was clearly not prepared to be met with the faces he had been.

"Is something wrong with you tongue boy? Where did you come from? What do you want?" Griff unsheathed his sword, which caused the boy to react quickly. He stumbled backwards, his wide eyes set on the sword Griff was marching towards him with.

"I-I..."

A fire nation soldier came in before Griff could grab a hold of the boy and looked upon the men in the hut with disgust. "You would stand defensively against an unarmed child?" He questioned, his tone more disapproving, as though the southern men were savages in need of civility, than it was filled with worry for the boy.

"We know nothing of him. You would not be suspicious of a stranger in your home?" Griff eyed the boy, who's green eyes darted back and forth between the men who stared at him.

"Put away your sword, brute," the soldier commanded. He pushed the Green Boy forward with a force that caused him to stumble and fall right in front of Griff. "This boy comes from the Fire Nation with a message for whoever is in charge here."

"Fire nation?" Someone in the hut laughed. "But he's...Green...isn't he? Why wouldn't they send someone of their own to do their job?"

"Don't you know they Green boys like him do all the dirty work?" The soldier huffed and turned on his heels. "I'm sure his Majesty the Fire Lord just wants you to get the message. Do what you will with him then."

The boy looked up at him with a frown that was ignored as he left. "My name isn't 'Green boy', it's Bolin. And my father is General San of the Fire Nation. I'm only half Earth-" Griff's sword prodded closer to his face. "He won't like it if you-"

"You think I give a shit?" Griff threatened. "What do you want? And you'd do well to speak quickly. My patiences is wearing thin, and I hate being interrupted."

Bolin pouted and then stood, messily picking a folded envelope out of his pocket. "Prince Korren wants you to have that."

The men's ears perked up at the sound of Korrens name. The buzz in the hut started up again as the whispered to themselves.

"He's got Green boys doing his work for him now." Tomare stepped forward, laughing. He snatched the envelope from Bolin's hands and quickly examined it. "Barse, come look at this," he said. "It's got the Fire Nation royal seal on it. Who does he think he is? Someone important enough to use their seal?"

"Korren wouldn't use that," Barse deadpanned. "How can we trust it's from him?"

"I wouldn't come all the way out here to lie to you."

Barse raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how can we trust even that?"

"It's Korrens." Tomare held up the letter for all to see. "Only he writes like bitch. Look how swirly it is. You ever seen a man write like that?"

"Never seen a half man write at all," Someone joked back.

"Stop it, do you think now is the time for jokes?" Barse grabbed the letter from him, sitting close by a candle to read it.

"Say," Tomare leaned forward, giving Bolin a good look. "Do you always do things for him?"

"Ah- no. I only met him once. And it was in a haste."

Tomare grinned, "bet he gets boys like you to warm his bed for him every night."

Bolin's eyes went wide again when he realized what Tomare meant. "I-I...I wouldn't know anything about that. Like I said I only met him the once and I…" Bolin coughed. "It's really cold here. I can't feel my fingers."

"What does the letter say?" Griff asked. Barse hadn't finished reading it yet when he looked up to the waiting eyes.

"He just...wants us to lay low for a while. There's something about him sending fire nation troops to help until he can return, but it's not very clear on when. I think the rest of it is just instructions…"

Griff loudly scoffed, "Lay low! _Lay low? _What does that even mean right now? Just sit still while they attack us? And how long are we supposed to stay like that?"

"Calm down…" Barse sighed, "I think he doesn't want us to go picking a fight. Of course we have to defend ourselves when they come again. But he said he's sending troops so-"

"He isn't even here! How dare he tell us how we should handle the situation, when he isn't here to witness whats going on anymore."

"I sure as fuck don't want to fight beside Fire Nation men. Next thing you know those assholes will claim that whatever victory we have was their doing. I don't wanna owe them anything. Since when does Korren want to work alongside them anyways?" Tomare said.

"Since they offered him a woman and she doesn't have a voice to tell him no-"

"I think we should trust him, he is Tonraq's child after all. Besides, him sending whoever he can is the best we've got right now. We aren't in a position to turn away any help we can receive." Barse stood. "I know trusting him doesn't sound favorable, but what choice do we have?"

"Like Griff said, we can barricade the north-"

"That's a stupid choice. We should stay here, and wait for Korren to arrive with men."

"I'm not relying on the Fire Nation, or on Korren. If he insists we wait, then we will do it without him." Griff huffed then turned towards Bolin. "You can go back and tell him that if he's putting trust into the fire nation men, then he may as well head straight for the Northern borders without us."

"Do what without him exactly? We don't have a plan!" Barse gritted his teeth. "Don't lose your life over nothing Griff."

"It isn't over nothing! It is for my people, my family. This is the reason women should not rule. Look at the decisions Korren is making. I can't believe a man like Tonraq would do something so stupid. Korren is who will lead us to our deaths, if not by Northerners then by the Fire Nation. I'm not following his...her orders."

"It has nothing to do with that. You're just being an idiot. Have some faith in him would you?"

"We don't have time for faith," Griff barked. "We have to act, right now."

Barse shook his head at Griff's relentlessness, "Has Korren ever led us into a battle we've lost before? If you go against his commands now, imagine how he will take it when he returns and takes his place a chief. Then you truly will not have a home."

"That was different. The North wasn't as strong an opponent then. What did he truly prove? That if he took strong men into battle against weaker men, he would win? Any idiot could do that."

"I'm with Griff," Tomare agreed solemnly. "I'm not waiting around to be killed by one of the two. Korren can send who he wants. We won't take them. Besides, this isn't a time for patience."

"If you have such a problem with it, take it up with the elders, maybe they'll give you a means to get to the fire nation, where you can continue to kiss his ass." Griff turned away from Barse, who stood frowning, and back to the head of the hut.

"This is the plan, we'll send out best men North. If we can barricade-"

-X-

The war room in the Fire Nation was nothing like the small council hut Korren was used to. It was far too big for the few men that gathered inside, and far more elaborate, with a long map stretching across the table below him. It looked updated, with intricate details about the colonies, and about who had what territory.

The map Korren had used at his meetings was an older version. The Water Tribe had no ties with the outside world, so there was never any need for something so detailed. Not even the maps of solely the Southern Water Tribe were as convoluted as the one laid out before him. Korren could barely take it all in, knowing that he would be expected to learn everything that was on it.

At his meetings he would usually stand while everyone else sat. It was the best way to be heard over the deep voices of men who all wanted to give their opinions as he gave out instructions. It was also the best way to show dominance. If someone disagreed, they would stand as well, almost challenging his authority. But being the way he had, Korren had grown used to that happening, and simply expected it to every time there was a big meeting held.

The Fire Nation's war room had something much different. It was almost like a stage, but Korren knew it was more of a _throne__,_ their version of one at the very least. He sat there, to the left of the Fire Lord, as he once did his own father, where he could see over all thirteen of the men who gathered below them.

It was so quiet, he could hardly tell the meeting had begun, something else he wasn't used to. It was almost nice, if not stiflingly uncomfortable. There was no one shouting over each other, they all spoke quietly about what was happening where and what they would need moving forward. It was so well coordinated, the Fire Lord himself hardly had to say anything in objection. The men barely even looked in his direction for instruction.

_Perhaps they are used to leading themselves_, Korren thought, _what sort of leader barely speaks a word at his own meeting? _Korren slid him a quick peek and surprisingly enough found him attentively watching the pieces on the map move, silently nodding when they fell into place.

"They are my men," Hiroshi's deep voice managed not to disturb the silence of the room when he spoke to Korren. "I must know where they are. Are you paying close attention too?" It was unnerving how much he managed to sound like Korren's own father in the moment. Korren felt as though he was back at his first war meeting again. Tonraq had been so kind and patient with him. The nights before were spent going over all the information they would be talking about. It seemed impossible that Korren had missed a detail with the way he and his father studied.

This time, his second first time, seemed as though it was going to be done the right way. He was not nearly as nervous, and the men below him were focused on the right things.

He took a deep breath in, feeling the uncomfortable squeeze of his binder against his ribs as he did so, "Yes."

"Yeah, the people there don't act up as much as they used to. Not with the new troops in place. It seems to have done its job just right. The benders are coming to train willingly now as well." Someone below him grunted in satisfaction. "You see how peaceful it can be when you have the right amount of men?"

They laughed. Korren sat silently in his own confusion. The place they were referring to was a little green dot on the map. Surely it couldn't have been anywhere so important whereas they need to bring it up in a meeting and yet they had. Korren still had yet to pick up on why. If things were going well in a certain region of the South, he spoke about it with his father and maybe the elders as well. There was no need to waste anyone else's time with details of how well something was going. That was what celebrations were for.

"When it calms down so more, we ought to take the Prince to the training grounds," someone said. "Let him see what real earthbending looks like."

They laughed again, this time looking up towards Korren to see his expression. "Just earthbending?"

Korren attempted a smile, "You can get women anywhere. Just earthbending will be thrill enough."

The men all grunted out something similar to a 'boo', "Not even bending will be as much thrill as a woman! Let us take you. You'll enjoy it."

"Have you ever met another earthbender?" They went on to ask.

"Not that I know of." Korren took notice to how loudly his voice echoed throughout the room and made a strange effort to quiet it. He ever had to not shout before.

The men all shared the same smile, "It's settled then, the next time we travel, you're invited to come with us."

"Oh." Korren once again looked at Hiroshi, who had no objections. "Will your messenger boy be back before then? I don't want to leave for anywhere until I know how things are. Not knowing how things are going with my own war makes me uneasy."

Hiroshi barely budged, as though he had been waiting for Korren to ask, and used to it for that matter. "How soon Bolin returns depends on your own men, Korren. How soon will the formulate a message for him to carry back? Will they even let him live long enough to return?"

"Well-" Korren thought on it. "I don't know Bolin as a man, but he was brave enough to make the journey. That should be able to bring him back as well."

"There's no need for you to think of it as 'your own' war anyhow Prince." A man said respectfully. "You're engaged to the royal family. This war belongs to all of us now."

"You will no longer need to so much as think about it." Hiroshi added.

Korren groaned. "That's kind, I suppose," he tried to remain pleasant. These men didn't seem to require the same bruteness his own men did. "However, I'd rather handle this myself. I know what my tribe needs. To leave it in the hands of other men seems wrong."

There was a shared laughter throughout the room. "No offense to you, Prince, but you haven't even started training yet. How could you possibly know how to handle a situation like that?" One the councilmen asked.

"We've brought peace to the earth colonies, Prince. I think it's safe for you to trust us to bring peace to your little tribe as well."

"It should be nothing. Look how small they are-" The man pointed to the map, where the south was a small dot compared to the vastness of everywhere else.

Korren twitched, "What I need right now, is a way to win my war. We've been sitting here for nearly two hours and we haven't even touched what you plan to do for me. _No offense, _but I think it's a waste of time to go over problems you've already solved when there is a much larger one at hand."

The man he was speaking to was small compared to who Korren has had to deal with in the past, but Korren doubt he knew that by the way he scrunched up his lip and began to grunt. "We don't do things the way you do-"

"Well maybe you should. The North is relentless. Being weaker than us has never stopped them before in the past, and that stubbornness is what's gotten them so far. If they conquer over my tribe, who's to say they will stop there? You don't know what they're after the way I do. If we let them win this, they won't stop till-"

"Are you going to let him speak out of turn?" The man interrupted, now more annoyed with him than anything else. Hiroshi only laughed, taking the situation much too lightly for Korren's liking. He placed a heavy hand on Korren's shoulder.

"Passionate isn't he? Oh- what? Am I supposed to challenge an untrained man to an agni kai? Let him be. He'll learn to let go soon enough."

Korren huffed, "I need men."

"You haven't even married yet and already you're asking for men?" Hiroshi raised an eyebrow.

"Be patient, you'll get everything you want in due time. For now, focus on your wedding. Have you gotten fitted for your suit yet?"

"You mean when _you_ get what you want?" Korren challenged. "I can't wait around for something like a silly marriage. I can marry any day. I only have now to win this war. It's getting too out of hand. You can trust that I will marry your daughter, but I need to be able to trust you as well. Give me the men I need as a way to prove this won't be one sided." He jumped down from his throne and walked around to the very bottom of the map, pointing to the small white space that was the South.

"Look, This would be the South. And all the way up there is the North. I'm not sure how they're doing it but they're sending these spirit-things to fight their battles for them at an incredible rate. When I left we already down too many men to fight them a third time without a rest period. I can't imagine what it must be like now."

"Spirit-things?" A man echoed. "Aren't you the Avatar? Shouldn't you know what they are and how to stop them?"

Korren glared at him, "don't you know anything about the tribes and what they practice? You sought me out. Surely you must know something."

"It is the North that worships the spirits. Korren and his people don't follow that religion." Hiroshi recited.

"Still, you're the Avatar-" the man insisted.

"Listen, these things are able to inflict amazing damage. So much so, that I wholly believe that if they were to come after even you, they'd win. We need to stop them from moving so quickly. Here's what I suggest, since we're in the middle of the fire nation now, we don't bother sending men to the south only to have them go north. Instead, we go right to the heart of the problem. If we can take out the problem at its core, then we can stop it all together and in one move. If that fails, at least we'll slow them down enough for my own men to recover-"

"Korren," Hiroshi sounded annoyed now, as though Korren was some child insisting on a toy. "Perhaps you really should let us handle that. I cannot put your people before my own, not right now. You saw first hand what I must deal with that night you were on the ship. "

"Our land is much more vast than your own. We have more people to protect." Now they sounded a lot like parents trying to reason with the bothersome child. Korren frowned.

"I think it's best you focus on your training, and your marriage. I know you had a big role in your politics, but here that isn't necessary. We have advisors and people who will handle that for you. You're a young man. Go out into the city, enjoy it. Don't be so eager rush into complicated things like this. Trust us, we'll get to it."

"I won't marry into something where my people will come second." Korren threatened. "I didn't even want this. Send me home so I can handle this myself."

"No one is coming in first or second-"

"I promise you I will treat them the same as my own- you just need to be patient." Hiroshi said sternly. "Do you think we would bring you here just to cast you aside? I know the seriousness of war. We won't let this just sit and fester."

"I think you would do anything to get what you want." Korren said bitterly. "Now that you've gotten me here, you won't keep up on your end of the deal."

"You know, most men would sit back and not complain."

"I've been told…You don't seriously expect me to do nothing?" The silence in the room was more uncomfortable now than it was anything else. And perhaps it was their silence that frustrated Korren most of all. His own men would've shouted out whatever it was they were thinking at him. They would at the very least give him an answer, no matter how vile it might be. These men weren't even able to properly lie to him.

All they could do was sit and stare, hoping Korren would eventually defuse himself without their interference.

Korren grunted, "fine. I'll give you your time to think about making the right decision concerning this. Do not make me upset Hiroshi. I will go after what I want, just like you will."

-X-

Korren slammed his door shut out of frustration. It was perhaps a very childish thing to do, not mention it probably scared whoever might have been in the halls, but it was the only way he could let out his anger without breaking something. Back home, his father would let him spar it out. Especially when he was younger, and the councilmen's comments were fresh and cruel. Here though, he doubted he would find a body of water large enough for the splash he wanted to make.

He knew better than the expect Hiroshi to be a fair man, but Hiroshi would knowingly about to let thousands of people die, when he was more than capable of doing something to help. Korren wanted to scream. He should have made it far more clear to Hiroshi, that if he wanted the Avatar, he would have to take the Southern people with him. It was implied, of course, all those men knew who Korren was most loyal to, but still, Korren felt as though he should have said something. At least then, they would all surely know how he felt.

How did they expect him to marry into an arrangement like this anyways? No matter how willing he was to cooperate with them, did they really think he would be okay with them putting off something so important?

Breathing as heavily as he did was becoming more and more painful as he seethed. He needed to take his binder off, then perhaps he could think more clearly about what to do-

He paused at the first button of his shirt meeting eyes with a pair of wide golden ones in standing in the middle of his room.

Suddenly his entire body felt as though it was on fire and his hands felt strangely heavy and they fell limp at his side.

"Were you going to watch me undress?" He tried painfully to make that sound like a joke, but his voice was strained, and thick with his embarrassment and fright. He wasn't entirely sure what he would've done if she saw. Probably stand there as he was now, struggling for words.

Asami seemed just as embarrassed as he was, as she her usually pale face was red, and her lips parted in her shock. "Ah- no. No. I would've said something…I just...you looked so upset then you started to-"

Korren shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts from that dreadful moment. "Yes, I had a meeting with your father. It didn't go so well. Why are you…" He stared at her for a moment. She was so small and feeble. She stood struggling to find something to do with her hands and maintain eye contact, as she always did when she was nervous.

For whatever reason she was in his room, he was sure she had meant no malice by it. "You're in my room." He said flatly. "Did you need something? Were you waiting long?" He forced his feet to move over to a small seat opposite where he was and sat desperately trying to calm his nerves.

_It's not like she saw anything. _He's never had a woman not know about him before. Everyone in the south had their rumors surrounding him, any woman he was with always suspected something. And if he really wanted to be with them that night, he would let them know the truth and prayed they weren't disgusted.

Asami was different. She didn't suspect a thing. He desperately wanted to keep it that way for at least a little longer.

"I thought you were upset with me," he said when Asami took too long to answer, probably still trying to gather her thoughts as well.

"Upset?" She seemed confused.

"Yeah, I punched your guard boy in the face and you yelled at me, remember?" He didn't mean to smile while recalling it, because that only made Asami more upset as she remembered what he was talking about. The incident happened only a few days before, and either she was avoiding him since then or he had just been too busy to have noticed her around.

Either way, they hadn't talked and it wasn't until now Korren realized how much he enjoyed her conversation. She was some relief when the days weren't kind at the very least.

"Oh yes. I remember." She scrunched up her face into a frown Korren couldn't help but laugh at.

"You had forgotten? I suppose he doesn't mean that much to you then."

"I didn't forget! I've had my own problems to deal with. With Ginger's funeral and getting back into schooling and-"

"You go to school?" Korren leaned forward, now more interested. "With your mother's protectiveness, I would've thought you were tutored or something."

"It isn't really a school, more like a place for us noble kids to gather. If we learn something while we're there then that's great. If not, well we have people who know that stuff for us anyways." As soon as Asami began to smile it began to fade again. She settled her hands in front of her, closing her eyes to ward away tears. "Everyone is grieving. I can't tell you how many tears I've wiped away."

"Oh," Korren fell silent, not sure how to deal with her crying properly. Would wrapping her in a hug be too much? Would she even want that? He was sure she hadn't forgiven him for hurting her friend as of yet. There was no way she had, not while she was still mourning the death of Ginger. "I-"

"You punched Mako in the face!" Asami started up again. She opened her eyes and frowned at him. Even with her eyes glassy it managed hit him the way she wanted it to. "Do you know how much he bled?"

"He hit me first," Korren defended weakly.

"I didn't realize you were a child. You live by the 'he started it' rule don't you? What reason would Mako even have for hitting you if you didn't provoke it?"

Korren bit his tongue. She was right about that, but he would never openly admit that he provoked the man. So instead he laughed, thinking back on how silly it all was. "Okay." He shrugged and stood, taking off his shoes so he could climb into bed.

"Just okay?"

"Just okay." He teased.

His whole body was tired, and weak, not to mention the pain of his binder still digging into his ribs.

He still needed to figure out something to do about Hiroshi before things got too bad. He was sure that the south was more than restless at this point. Perhaps even desperate. He didn't want to think about what the men might do on impulse due to desperation. He knew them well enough to know that nothing of much rationality would come out the situation if there was a panic spreading.

The bed sank a bit, when Asami sat beside him. "Do you mind untangling my hair?" he asked gently. She had every reason to say no, but he didn't think she was that cruel. When he peeked at her, her frown had relented a little bit, and her face seemed softer. She was just as beautiful as the women he drooled over back home, if not more so. And she was in his bed, again. He wanted her there for as long as he could have her.

"Is that your way of de-stressing or something?" She was teasing he knew, because a moment later she reached over and started pulling at the locks Korren didn't know how keep in place. "You could always just...comb your hair."

"My hair was always shorter when I was home. It never used to get like this. Besides, it feel nice when you do it."

Asami muttered something he didn't catch, but he supposed it didn't really matter, because she didn't seem as though she was waiting for a response.

Her fingers were so gentle and warm. Something about them weaving their way through the messiness of his hair was strangely relaxing. For a blissful moment he felt at peace.

"You didn't tell me why you're in here," he noted. "I'm convinced you were just here to watch." He laughed at his own joke, causing Asami to roll her eyes.

"Is that a proper way to speak to someone who could cause you pain right now?" Asami joked, wrapping a strand of his hair around her finger, threatening to pull.

"I suppose not, but why were you in here? Did you want something?" He turned around to face her so they could speak properly.

Asami smiled, and he instantly he recognized it as the one she donned when she wanted him to do something, like smile more, or go to dinner with her friends. "You remember Varrick."

Korren made a face at the name. "Unfortunately. Why?"

"Well, he wants to have a private meeting with you…" Korren began to groan. He wasn't sure how many more meetings he could take. Especially not with people who had an expectation of him.

"You couldn't wait till tomorrow to ask me this?"

Asami's smile widened, "I figured you would appreciate it more if I asked you in private."

"I'm pretty sure no means no whether it's in public or in private." Korren began to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Asami. He sighed, feeling whatever calmness Asami had previously brought him start to diminish.

"I'm pretty sure I couldn't convince you in public. Please, just take it into consideration. You shoot things down so quickly."

Korren laughed, "convince me? I thought you were still mad at me."

"Yeah, and I will be until you apologize, but until then I'm not too proud to beg." She pouted cutely, sticking out her lower lip and giving him big puppy eyes until he laughed again.

"I can't believe this is happening. Does this man mean so much?" Asami made a face Korren wasn't sure he could read. It could've have been disgust, could it? Asami wouldn't try to talk him into meeting a man she was disgusted by. Nor would she be so willing to let Korren know that's how she felt about him.

"He's an important figure, and he wants to talk to you. Can't we just leave it there? I need you to meet him. For your sake at least."

Korren raised an eyebrow. "My sake?"

"Well- yeah. He's a water tribe man. You're a water tribe man. You don't seem to be getting along too well with anyone else so I figured-"

"Asami-"

"Don't say no again! Shouldn't husbands listen to their wives about things like this?"

Korren sighed, settling back down into his bed again. The last thing he wanted was one more person to worry about. In fact, he didn't want to worry about anything else, or do anything else, until the matter at hand was dealt with and out of the way. He wasn't sure he could take anymore stress.

Asami laid beside him, staring as though that would make him give her an answer sooner. "Do you know what he wants to talk about? I don't think I could take it if it's something that's going to stress me out."

Asami shook her head, "no, but Varrick isn't a heavy man. He's rather easy to talk to. I think you'll like him."

Korren shrugged. "Just give me some time to think about everything and work through it, then I'll meet him, I guess."

That seemed to be enough to get Asami to smile and nod. She sat upright in a bouncy fashion and grinned. "That's fine. I'm sure he doesn't mind waiting for a proper response." Korren moaned in objection as she began to swing her legs from the bed.

"Mmm- you aren't leaving now are you?" he quickly grabbed a hold of her hand, and pulled her back down with him, locking her in his arms. "Getting what you want and running off? I feel used."

"You did look upset. I figured I shouldn't bother you anymore…"

"Just stay a bit longer, then I'll let you go." Korren watched her expression go from shocked to calm quickly. They hadn't had any moments alone since they arrived, and much as Korren didn't want to get too close to her, she made him feel at peace whenever they were together. Something about her brought about a calmness- so different from the headaches her father brought him. He wanted her near him, just for a little while longer.

"Do you want to talk about what happened? I promise, I'll try to keep up." She smiled innocently, almost bashful, and he swore he felt his heart melt for her.

"It isn't anything complicated to understand. Your father won't give me the men I need to gain the upper hand in my war again. He says he 'has more important use for them'." Korren rolled his eyes at the thought.

"There was no major war in the Fire Nation. What could he possibly need them for? I'm convinced he just doesn't want to give me any men for the hell of it."

Asami abruptly snorted out laughter. She laughed so hard she shook in Korren's hands, and vibrated nicely against him. "Oh!" She managed to call out in between her giggles. "I see…"

"That's funny to you?"

"Oh, please don't misunderstand. That is by no means funny at all. It's just-" She giggled again. "You don't know-"

"I don't know…" Korren echoed.

"If you ever need something like that, it isn't my father you ask." She giggled again. "I can't believe you asked him for men. Was he sober?"

Korren frowned his confusion, and held Asami still against him. "I don't understand what you mean. Why's that so funny?"

"Because, most people here know. If you need something like men- or military power, you don't ask my father. He doesn't put the men to good use. He puts too much trust into his councilmen, and his councilmen don't really care too much for what they do. They get the men, go to earth kingdom, and pretty much just act like...well...men. You know? Get drunk, push around the earthbenders...get..women...

"My father likes to push serious things aside and then blame the lower classes for when things get out of control. Its his way of making propaganda. So my mother handles all the important things. Like your war for example. If you need men to send, shes the one you go to. Not my father. _Never_ my father." She said the last part more sternly than all the rest, to make sure he got the point. "Oh, yeah, I suppose you're right. He isn't giving you men because he doesn't want to. I suppose he wants you to be desperate. That way you'll_ have to_ rely on him."

Korren gritted his teeth. Hiroshi was such a fool he would willingly let thousands of people die for his own self satisfaction. Korren wasn't sure what Hiroshi would gain from putting him in an impossible situation, but he wasn't exactly willing to find out either. The last thing he wanted was he give him the pleasure.

What sort of a man would do something as idiotic as leaving important matters till they spiraled out of control? As he was coming to know Hiroshi, and the Fire Nation, better he supposed it wasn't that unimaginable of him. The man had no morals, in fact, Korren doubted he had anything redeeming about him whatsoever. He was coming to think of them as worse than the Northerners, the spirit-worshippers. At least they had a specific goal in mind that was for something greater than themselves. Hiroshi's destructiveness seemed simply because he wanted to, and had the means to go about it. There was nothing deeper to it than selfishness.

What Korren couldn't imagine was that it was Yasuko who fixed everything that Hiroshi screwed with. Yasuko seemed strong willed enough, and now that he truly had a moment to think about her- outside her hatred for him- he supposed her inability to bend wouldn't have set her back as much as it should've. Not when she was Azula's grandchild. Still, a woman, a non-bending one at that, setting a place as complex and vast as the Fire Nation in order was a hard thought for him to wrap his head around. In his home, a woman wanting so much as wanting to fight next to a man was considered insane.

And yet here a woman, a non-bending one, was doing so much more...

"Then why isn't she on the throne? She might as well... Hiroshi may as well runoff and do as he pleases. Why doesn't she-"

"My father isn't a reasonable man. And besides, it's not as though people want to be up front about a non-bender leading them. They'd rather pretend my father is great at what he does than openly thank my mother for her work."

"I suppose I understand that. Still, nothing like that could ever happen in my home. The men would probably skin her alive."

Korren felt Asami tense in his arms and the thought crossed his mind that maybe he shouldn't have said that. "Yeah, I know," she said lowly. "You're taking this so well. Usually men aren't too happy about-" She stopped when Korren shook his head, "oh."

"It goes against what I was taught, but I suppose I have to admire her strength. Hiroshi doesn't get anything useful done. I can't say I'm happy to have to go to for this though, she doesn't like me."

"I can do it for it you!" Asami suggested, she knew how her mother was most of all.

"No, I should do it." Korren sighed, thinking about how he wanted less stress and was instead given this. "It won't look good on my part if I send you."

"I guess not." Asami nodded. "How come you want this so badly anyways? I thought your plan was to try and relax while you're here..."

"I'll relax when I know everything is okay. It's weird but I can't let go. Not yet. Its not as easy as I thought it would be."

Asami seemed to understand as she relaxed back into him. "Okay," she agreed simply, "relax when it's over."

It took a long time for the air to feel light again. Korren tried hard to focus on Asami laying beside him for the rest of the night. It was almost as though he needed it. He rarely had the luxury of breaks, or of moments he could spend not thinking about what doom may lay around the corner for him and his people. But never had that weighed so heavily on him. He couldn't remember a time where that bothered him as much as it did now.

He just wanted desperately to breathe for a moment.

Asami seemed to do the trick as always felt nice against him. So warm, and soft. He liked the moments they had alone. She felt like what winter nights locked safely in his home felt like, with his his binder tossed somewhere in the corner, and his mother's cooking still warm on the stove, and no one around to chide him for anything.

Asami was always more relaxed than she usually was when they were alone and that meant he could enjoy her in her truth. Tonight, everything about her was calm compared to him. The way her breathing didn't match his heavy, ragged one. Or how her arm idly rested over his, and how her fingers traced over his skin in the same fashion his brushed over hers- just to feel that she was there-, but hers were so much softer, and lighter.

It took a while, but finally, he felt calm again, like he could sleep without a worry for the night. He pulled her as close to him as she could get, and gently whisper, "are you still mad at me?"

Asami let out a heavy breath as she looked up at him. "Are you going to apologize?"

"I'm sorry!" he blurted out quickly. It seemed to take Asami by surprise as she held her mouth open as though she wanted to say something, then quickly shut it again. "I'm sorry…" He repeated, softer this time. "I won't punch him again- unless he really deserves it."

Asami shook her head. "Are you apologizing only because-"

"I want you to stay," he admitted. "Just a for another few hours. But I don't want you to feel forced. I don't want you to be upset with me-" He awkwardly stopped in the middle of his sentence, looking down to see Asami's expression. She wasn't exactly frowning, but she wasn't smiling into him either. Korren hated how clueless he could be when it came to reading things like this at times. He didn't know what her expression meant until she pulled him down into a kiss. Then he understood.

She probably wasn't too upset anymore. Or maybe she was, korren couldn't be sure. But she probably wanted this moment just as much as he did. She was still so young, and fragile, he couldn't imagine what Ginger's death must've done to her. Seeing her cry over the lifeless body of her friend reminded him of the first time he had to watch someone die. How helpless he felt and how quickly he was forced to let it go and move on. Asami had her own problems. Her own people she wanted to protect, and her own reasons she needed to be strong. Korren came to realize that she probably needed a moment to breathe, to forget, more than he did.

He probably should've asked how she felt. How she was dealing with it. He wished he had someone ask him the same, but for the moment all he could focus on was her. How her hands tangled in his hair, and her legs wrapped around his waist. How her own figure so much more slender than his own, and how the curve of her waist and her breasts fit in his hand. How soft the skin at her pulse was, how easily it became red under his lips. She gasped when he did it right, and moaned when he took her into his mouth.

He didn't want to stop. He wanted to lay back and enjoy how she wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but somehow that made everything so much better. How her hands stayed so firmly over his own, guiding him to where she wanted to be touched. She mimicked whatever he did with his mouth, leaving warm trails over his neck and jaw.

And soon she was under him, her dress bundled around her stomach which was ridden with small marks Korren left behind. Her moans became louder, and quickly filled the room. Her fingers tightened in hair and the way she tasted left him near intoxication.

He wanted more of her, but it was all cut short when her hands began to roam a little too far and instinct took over, causing him to grab her wrist tightly and yank her eager hands away from his chest, where the tightness of his binder was becoming evident once more.

She looked up at him with wide eyes full of shock, and maybe even pain, before she wriggled out of his grip. Korren untangled himself from her and sat up quickly, settling on the edge of the bed. "Don't do that." He said, his voice still raspy with his arousal.

"Why? It was getting good." Asami sat up too, wrapping her half naked form around his back. She kissed his jaw, moaning when she felt his skin against her tongue. "I want to touch you too."

Her hands reached for the buttons of his shirt once again, and this time he was more careful with how he handled her. "I have scars…" He mumbled.

Asami chuckled deeply in his ears, "I didn't expect a man like you to have skin like mine. Let me see."

Korren cringed at the thought of letting her undress him. Something about even thinking about about being naked in front of her made him feel sick. He shook his head. "I don't want to share them yet. I'd rather we just stop for tonight."

Asami went slump on his back. He could just hear the pout in the way she spoke, "you don't have to be embarrassed. There's nothing wrong with having scars, it means you fought a good-"

"No!" He shook himself free from her and stood from the bed altogether. "There's nothing good about these kinds of scars. They're nothing but a reminder. I don't want to talk about it anymore okay?"

Asami sat in the middle of his bed, one hand covering her breasts, the other pulling her dress down to cover the rest. "I just want to see- we don't have to-" Her voice trailed off as she realized how serious Korren was. There was something pitiful about the way she looked. Korren couldn't help but feel he had done her wrong somehow.

She deserved a night like this. One where she was with a lover, and they could kiss and touch and do whatever it is they pleased without fear of anything standing in the way. But Korren wasn't sure if he could give that to her. Not yet, if ever. He could barely stand the way his own arousal pooled between his legs.

He remembered the way women looked at it, when they knew. When he chose to show them. How they would comment about how well he had fooled them until that moment. They would comply with his wants, and needs, some of them, but others weren't so kind. Korren couldn't help but think about how Asami looked nothing like those girls in this moment.

How she was only eager to go as far as she could in one night. That's when Korren realized his mistake. He probably shouldn't have apologized to her. Not while he was like this. Because now she wasn't mad anymore, and she had no reason to want to stay away from him, no reason to resent him. And he was beginning to like her a little too much for the circumstances they were under.

Things were bound to go wrong if they kept up the way they had.

"Maybe another time…" Korren said. "Besides, we shouldn't be doing this anyways. We're not married, and your father might change his mind. We never know. I wouldn't want to soil you or anything."

The silence that followed made the room stiff once more, but Korren chose to ignore it, figuring it was much better than what might've come. "How about I walk you to your room? You can have a long kiss goodnight if you want…" He tried to smile, but Asami didn't react to his offer at all.

Instead she looked like she might cry. Korren prayed she wouldn't. He already had enough difficulty dealing with emotions in general. He didn't know how to comfort her if she did start crying about this.

"It's me," she wondered aloud, "isn't it?" Korren shut his eyes as he cursed how unlucky he was. He wanted to shout out at her, it could never be you. "If we had met under different conditions, would you still take an interest in me?"

Korren sighed, "It's hard to say…"

She frowned, "cause I'm not Water Tribe like you are? You don't have to tell some stupid lie. Scars? Really? I almost believed you. But that doesn't make any sense. What man would pass up the opportunity because he has a scar?"

Korren cringed, "Asami-"

"If you were going to lie, you could've at least done it well. Does every man here think I'm stupid? You haven't invited me into your room since we've been here. There are water tribe women here too. I see how you stare at them. Especially at your welcoming. Now, suddenly you have scars and you don't want to be with me?"

"Asami-"

"I can't believe I actually kind of like you! You're the only one who treated me like I'm-" She stopped short and began to climb from the bed. "Nevermind just-"

It wasn't the right thing to do, but Korren quickly caught her in his arms and held her tightly against the bed. "I wouldn't lie to you about this. It's a scar. I promise. Not cause you aren't water tribe, not cause I don't want to. A scar I'm not proud of. Okay? Don't doubt that I want this." He was very much aware of how strained his voice sounded, like he wanted to cry himself.

Asami frowned as she stared at him, but eventually that relented some and she nodded, "fine," she said simply. "I'm not sure why it upset me so much anyways. I guess I just...nevermind. You have to marry me either way, right?"

Korren managed a smile, "right."

"Okay," She pulled him down into another kiss, this one harder, and more watery than the ones they shared in his bed. "Goodnight then."

* * *

**Okay Phew! That was a lot. Lol. **

**I love it when Asami gets conversational, so I figured you guys might like it too. **

**HUGE, HUGE thanks to my beta, Cookie. She helped me out a great deal with this chapter! As well as Kitty, who helped me some as well. **

**Please, PLEASE, leave a comment, or a thought just letting me know what you think about this chapter. (I live for those) **

**Hope you enjoyed it :) **

**Till next time**

***Flies away***


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Yasuko**

_Yasuko often enjoyed her birthday. It was the only time of the year her father was willing to come to see her without making any excuses. At the party they threw for her he would dance with her, and bring her colorfully wrapped presents from where he last was. The best part was that he always give a long, overly sappy, speech about how special she was, and how in the coming year he wanted nothing more than to see his little girl happy and smiling._

_People would snort, and laugh here and there, because it was strange of course. No matter how much a father loved his daughter, no man, particularly of Azulon's stature, would so willingly brag about his daughter, his unmarried, non-bender of daughter. Yasuko was no one important in her name. She had no accomplishments for her family to take pride in, no value in her nation. More often than not she went about ignored by anyone who could be considered diplomatic. It would've been more appropriate if Azulon didn't say anything at her birthday parties, but he had, and she felt special for a change. _

_This year however, there was no big hug to accompany her father's appearance, nothing wrapped in colorful papers for her, hardly any excitement in his voice when they exchanged a moment of pleasantries. Then he kissed her mother on the cheek and told her she looked well. That was as far as their greetings went before he disappeared into the crowd of people. _

_Something had changed since they had last seen each other, and Yasuko could feel it like a bug crawling down her spine. She shivered to think that she had done something to disappoint or anger him, but there could've been no greater disappointment than how she was born so the thought came and quickly passed; she could never anger him. She was his little girl, his only child, he loved her more than he loved his nation at times. _

_Silently she wondered if work had just been hard these last few months. He had been sloppy when it came to writing her back. His letters came in short sentences, lacking the vivid details she loved so much, nothing more than an "hello" and an "I love you very much". He was the Fire Lord, and he traveled a lot, perhaps some dirty man from the colonies angered him. It seemed more likely than the idea that she did something wrong._

_"Azula is here now," her mother said, drowning her thought of her father with a new and equally disturbing one. There was an unusual giddiness in her voice. One that should not be there considering it was her Grandmother her mother was speaking of. No one spoke of Azula with excitement in their voice, especially not her mother. Azula hated both of them as far as Yasuko had heard and she found it hard to disagree. _

_Azula always found something wrong with her. Whether it be the way she sat or her inability to bend. There was absolutely nothing the old woman wouldn't find a fault and so growing up Yasuko learned to walk on eggshells around her. Careful of how her posture was at the table, careful of the way she spoke and bowed to her, careful not to do anything that would lead to her becoming angry because it was never her Azula punished, but her father. The last thing she ever wanted to do was put Azulon in a position against his mother. _

_Not to mention, Yasuko's mother hadn't met her standards either, but yasuko believed that had less to do with her mother, as the woman was a skilled bender herself and an even more amazing diplomat, and more to do with her. She had somehow lessened the accomplishments of her mother but not being one of them and Azula hated that. _

_Yasuko could only imagine the way Azula spoke to Azulon concerning them being that she never said anything kind. She could remember a rumor that spread when she was younger that said Azulon would remarry under the circumstance that if he didn't he would lose the throne to his younger brother, who was childless and therefore had 'potential'. Azulon had eased her mind on that one, rocking her while she cried herself to sleep and promising he wouldn't leave her for anything in the world. _

_"Sit, sit." Her mother ushered her to her seat and stood beside her, standing still for only a second before running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it neater. _

_Yasuko fidgeted. She knew Azula was set to come, but she hadn't expected that the woman would actually show up. Azula even sent her a dress to wear, and though it was strange Yasuko still didn't let the thought of her coming ruin the night. Her grandmother hated her, so even if she did show up, Yasuko expected to have to say hello and then to be ignored for the rest of the night. _

_The new dress pinched and itched even though it was supposedly 'the finest material the Fire Nation had to offer'. Yasuko was convinced that somehow the dress was a punishment of sorts, but her mother insisted she wear it because it wasn't every year Azula came to see her or even suggested that she would. The woman was getting too old to do much of anything anymore, her mother said as an excuse or perhaps a way to convince Yasuko she wasn't hated, all the glory that once was dwindled down to a frowning, shriveled woman in a wheelchair. _

_The crowd cleared a path as Azula was wheeled down into the room and in front of her. Even in her old age, her skin wrinkled and sagging, her fingers skinny and unsteady, her back hunched forward, she still managed to strike fear into Yasuko. _

_Her thin lips smiled as she gazed up at her granddaughter, the smile that once made diplomats uneasy, and her enemies tremble in fear. _

_Yasuko's mother was quick to bow respectfully, "Azula, it's great to see you again," she said. Azula said nothing in return and instead focused on Yasuko beside her bowing mother. Unfortunately, Yasuko was not as fast to bow or greet her and she could see that her lack of action angered the woman, as her smile, if it wasn't already menacing, twisted. _

_"Grandmother," she said standing to kiss her cheeks, as it was too late to makeup up for not bowing. "Thank you for coming, I know it must've been a long trip. How is Ember Island this time of year?" It was a stupid question that she already knew the answer to. Ember Island was bound to be hot this time of year, unbearably hot. Azula must've hated having to leave the cool comfort of her home for any reason. All the more reason to find it strange that she was willing to come. _

_Yasuko could tell her grandmother was not impressed, but she never really was so instead Yasuko waited for a response. She hoped Azula would just ignore her and speak to her mother instead, but the old woman's eyes focused intently on her the way one would an opponent, taking her in, going over every fine detail of her face and her body. Yasuko shifted under her gaze, unsure if she should be making eye contact with her while she did this or not._

_There was a long moment of nothingness that came next. Azula didn't move or speak and Yasuko was unsure of how to go on, worried that in the minute she had been there she was already angry somehow. The crowd hardly moved either, focused on their exchange. Smiles painted each and every face as though the didn't know Azula's presence was not one anyone should ever celebrate. And yet…_

_Yasuko looked back at her mother who had risen from her bow, and was now giving her an encouraging smile as though to urge her to keep going; to keep entertaining her Grandmother. _

_'They're waiting for something,' Yasuko realized. No one was smiling at Azula or because she had arrived finally, no it was what her arrival meant that had everyone so eager. They all knew something she didn't. _

_Uneasy, Yasuko searched for her father in the crowd, and found him a single sullen face among the excitement of everyone else's. He wasn't looking at either of them, instead down at something, in his hands perhaps, his grimace deepening with every second of silence that passed. She didn't like the feeling rising in the pit of her stomach and for once she wished Azula would just say something, anything, as that was the only way to calm the tension. _

_She became nauseous at the thought that perhaps Azula had a present for her. The last time Azula offered her anything she was a child, and the offer was chi-blocking lessons so she 'could become useful'. It hadn't gone well and she was directly met with the rage of Azula when her mother allowed her to quit only a year in. _

_"Ember Island is fine," Azula said finally. "It's cooler than you would think, actually." _

_"That's good then," Yasuko nodded. "You must be happy there." _

_"I'm satisfied. You look happy, I suppose you took the news well then-" _

_"Actually, we haven't told her yet!" Her mother interrupted. "We wanted it to be a surprise-" _

_Azula snapped her mother a glare that confused Yasuko. 'Was it not meant to be a surprise? Why show up if she had expected Yasuko to already know…' _

_"Well, smile dear," Azula said, her voice taunting, "you're getting married." _

_-x-_

_Yasuko wasn't sure why this had caused such a big fuss. Sure, her marriage meant that the next Fire Lord after her father was set in line, that his lineage would continue to sit on the throne for generations to come, hopefully with whatever child she would bare for this man, but she didn't understand the fuss surrounding her reaction to it. _

_No one actually cared. Not enough for her to have any say in it. She supposed that they expected her to squeal and jump about excitedly at the news. Marriage to a powerful bender was all any non-bender could want. So she tried. She smiled at her grandmother, thanked her for even considering a husband for her, hugged back when her mother squeezed her into one of those motherly hugs and tried with everything she could to give them what they wanted. _

_Her smile lasted all night, surprisingly not dwindling once. It wouldn't have been right to cause a scene. Not when Azula came from so far to see her wedded, not when her mother seemed so hopeful, and not when there were so many people expecting so much of her. _

_She searched for her father in the crowd for the rest of the night, wondering what he must've thought of all this. Had he been in on this surprise also? Was this a present from him as well? Is that why he had nothing to offer her?_

_Unable to find his face in the swarm of people buzzing about the room she sat back down, indulging the woman beside her in conversation. _

_Yasuko wasn't sure who she was, an aunt perhaps, but she was there and she was talking so Yasuko listened. _

_-x- _

_ "Do you want this, Yasuko?" The question, though a normal one for her father to ask, caught her off guard. He always asked her what she wanted. Whether it be a new dress, or to travel with him to see the beauty of the colonies in Ba Sing Se… but those were simple things. Things that had no lasting effect on anything or anyone. _

_This time the question had been so different. _

_This was the line of success he was speaking about. This decision wasn't in her hands. She wasn't going to be the next fire lord, she accepted that long ago. And with that came the acceptance that she would never have much of a say in anything. Whoever she married would sit on the throne, of course she wasn't ever going to be allowed to choose. Now here her father was, asking what she wanted in a matter in which she was no one important…_

_"Are you drunk?" She asked. She found him sitting on a balcony that overlooked the palace gardens, a grimace she had never seen before set on his face and a bottle in his hands. She had seen him drunk before, but never quite like this. She had only ever seen him be the happy kind of drunk, the one where he allowed her to stay up late despite her mother insisting she go to bed and have second cup of wine at the table and sometimes, if she was lucky, explain to her the jokes his comrades told that she didn't understand. _

_She knew how to handle him when he was like that. She kmew nothing of this. _

_ She hadn't meant the question to be rude in any sense, and luckily he didn't seem to take it as such. He simply laughed and set the bottle down behind him, "Perhaps I have had enough, but that doesn't answer the question." _

_Yasuko frowned, and he repeated, "do you want this? I've met that man; the one Mother wants you to marry. He's...something." With a sigh he continued, "no man should want power over seeing his daughter happy. I fear he will not love you the way a man ought to love his wife."_

_Yasuko shook her head, "does that even matter? Since when do men love their wives?" _

_"Some men-" _

_Yasuko laughed, "oh spare me." _

_"I love your mother." _

_"That's different." _

_"How?" _

_"Because... of course you do. She's great, and I've heard the stories of how you two fell in love and I...it's just different okay. It'd be a strange thought to think you two are anything but in love." _

_"And what makes you think you could not find a man to love you the same? Do you not feel like you're worthy?" His frown changed now. It became more concerned, like when she had fallen and scraped her palms. _

_Yasuko laughed, "I am not a powerful bender. I'm not a powerful anything. My say doesn't-" _

_"I know you're not a bender. It doesn't bother me. My mother is only trying to spite you. She was hoping for so much more for you." _

_"Oh." Yasuko would've figured that out soon enough. Azula never did anything for her simply out of kindness. _

_"Well?" _

_"Well?" She echoed._

_"Do you want this? Do you want to live a life obeying every command your grandmother lays before you? Or is there some who makes you happy? Anyone you would like to marry? I didn't want to admit it, but you're old enough to start thinking about these things. Just name anyone, and I will talk to my mother about it." _

_Yasuko stayed silent for a long time. Long enough for the sounds of the party still raving below them to make its way faintly back to her ears. Long enough for her to notice the slight chill in the air as autumn was approaching soon. She wasn't sure what to say, if anything at all. The last thing she ever wanted to be was wrong. She had never been given the option of making such a big decision before. _

_"Yasuko! Don't ignore me." _

_"I'm not. I'm only thinking." _

_He sighed, long and heavy, "Listen to me, don't let my mother, or anyone else for that matter, make you feel like you have no say in something that concerns you. You are the proud princess of the Fire Nation, and my daughter. Your children will sit on that throne and lead men into wars and rule over anything that is left for them to conquer." _

_Yasuko giggled childishly at the thought of her heavily pregnant and waddling around the throne room trying to gather her kids for a meeting. She knew it was wrong to laugh, but her father's words were that of a drunken man angry at his mother's choice of suitor for her. What value could they have to her. _

_"Yasuko. I'm serious. You weren't born the scum of colonies or savage of the water tribes. You have value. What you want is just as important as who will succeed me. Never let them shrink you." _

-X-

It seemed like just yesterday Asami was suckling from her breasts and now here she was, preparing to be married. Asami was the absolute picture of beauty. She was tall for her age, slender, pale, she had beautiful raven hair that cascaded down her waist, a woman's shape. Her features were delicate and soft, and to top it off she inherited the beautiful golden eyes of her family.

She would've been any man's prize and yet…Yasuko could hardly swallow the thought. _Such a waste._ Her daughter was far too beautiful to be married off to someone like Korren. Just the thought of him beside her daughter made her skin crawl. Much less to think someday Asami would be pregnant with his children, and that those children will share the same blood as her. She could only hope they took after Asami, with pale skin and golden eyes. That way maybe history books could erase this if she could not.

The Fire Nation was not in a such a peril that they needed to be reduced to bargaining with savages. She couldn't know what her husband was thinking when he made this deal. The water tribes had nothing to offer them expect dark skinned women with braids and blue eyes and hard, cold, dead land. Aside from sex, Hiroshi had nothing to gain from this. And he didn't need to travel half a world away to find eccentric women who would do his biddings.

"How are things with the council?" Asami asked, looking at her mother through the mirror. She was wearing a black dress. It was too long for her, and the bunched up fabric at the bottom made her look like a child trying on her mother's clothes instead of a woman picking a dress. Yasuko nearly chuckled. Asami looked like a child wearing her mother's dress to a funeral. It was fitting considering the circumstances.

Yasuko sighed, shaking her head as she thought of it.

"Well, it can't be that bad can it? You look...stressed," Asami noted.

"That's a strange question coming from you. You're usually so disinterested when it comes to politics." Yasuko stood to pick out a better dress for her daughter, something a rich purple would due perhaps. Something that showed off her breasts, small but ample for her size. Something that screamed how different she and the new 'prince' were.

"I try to stay where I am wanted. Father wouldn't like it if he knew you try to teach me these things. He'd say we were conspiring together."

Yasuko grunted her response, "is he not a fool? My father taught me these things, the least Hiroshi can do is follow in his footsteps. Oh, but would he?" She scoffed. "Anyhow, the council is going fine. We all agree to send as many men as we can afford to the earth colonies as soon as possible. You should have seen the mess you father made there."

The colonies had been unstable for quite sometime now, but Hiroshi would rather sit and deny the problem than actually doing something about it. He handled things in small amounts, pretending he did something. The Earth Colonies were becoming more and more rebellious as the years went on. Yasuko couldn't put a finger on what was inspiring them to act out so suddenly, but she supposed it didn't matter. Inspired or not, they were causing a budding war, and that was the last thing Yasuko wanted to fund.

"They're playing quite the interesting game of _'Pop! Goes the King!'_" Yasuko laughed, "The newest one is a boy, a little thing, not much bigger than you are. He claims he is the blood of the original Earth King. He's gotten everyone in a ruckus."

"Oh? What's he called then?"

"Why? Are you interested?" Yasuko teased lightly, "now that I think about it he would be quite the step up from this..._Korren _boy."

Asami made a face she couldn't understand, but then again, there was a lot about Asami that she didn't understand as of lately.

"Mother…"

"They call him Wu. He isn't as much of a threat as he is a migraine. He isn't who I'm worried about. I just think he's funny. Going around squeaking here and there about what he deserves."

Yasuko found a beautiful red dress sitting on a mannequin in the back of the room. She figured it was much better than a purple dress, much more traditional. It had so many differently layers of red, and a low cut between her breasts. "Here try this one instead."

"So who are you worried about then?" Asami asked as she held her hands up for the maids who began to undress her.

"That Kuvira woman. You remember her. You said she resembled a man in some ways…"

Asami nodded, "yes, I remember. They were calling her the great... _something_. I thought you handled that."

"I thought so too. But apparently, your father pulled the men I sent there to 'handle something different'. I swear, that man...just…" She shook her head and pulled back Asami's hair to hold the dress to her torso. "First he doesn't do the one thing he's supposed to do, now he's going on and on about this Avatar nonsense. We don't even need an Avatar. That era has ended. Such a waste of time, don't you think? That boy was fine where he was. Why did he have to-"

Yasuko's thought was cut short by three fading, but still very distinct, marks on Asami's neck. She felt her heart sink to her stomach the way heavy rocks sank in a river. Suddenly her entire body felt hot with anger. She wasn't a firebender, but if she was, she was sure she could've burnt something right then. Asami twisted away, obliviously handing the dress to maid girls to help her get in it.

"He's the Avatar, Mother. Of course he's important. That's why father seeked him out. He could probably bring balance back to the earth colonies. Maybe that's what those people need. Brute hasn't worked before. Plus, having the most powerful man in the world on our side couldn't be the worst thing that's ever happened to us."

Yasuko's mouth ran dry. She couldn't stand the thought. It irritated her entire body, made her itch and uneasy. "Sounds like you're defending him." She eased the words out carefully.

"Well- no. He's a foreign man and you have every right to be suspicious of that. But he hasn't done anything." Her voice became smaller, the way it did when she wasn't sure how Yasuko would react to what she saying. "He's just like any other man Father could've chosen. It feels like you aren't giving him a chance, and I don't know why."

"Anyone who isn't us isn't worth a chance. Look at the women dressing you Asami, do you see either of them in red? His people are not like us and-" A gruesome thought entered her mind, _what if he...no, Asami would surely tell me if he touched her there. _"And anyone who isn't like us, isn't worth anything. Who knows how he grew up, the things he values. Do you think a man from so far away could be qualified to marry into our family?"

Asami gave her the look again. The one she couldn't understand. It was quick, then she averted her eyes down to her hands, bit her lips, and agreed. Yasuko hated silencing her daughter. She hated it more than anything. There will be enough people in her life who will silence her and Yasuko didn't feel like she should be one of them. But Asami was still so young, so naive. She deserved the right to speak freely, but there were just some things she wouldn't understand and for those times it was better she only listened.

Yasuko struggled to find her next words, the thought of it nearly causing tears to well in her eyes. She clutched tightly to the fabric of her own dress as she said it, "Did he...touch you?"

Asami didn't look up, her face going bright red. She was always a bad liar, ever since she was a child. It was just something she wasn't meant to do. "No," she answered in a small voice. "Can you finish telling me about the council? I would much rather hear about that."

"No, I want to talk about this now. This is important, you're going to marry him soon. Has he done anything to make you…" She could feel her fingers digging into the side of her thighs now. It hurt, but still, not as much as this thought. She would easily claw off her own skin if it meant that boy hadn't done anything to her child. "...Uncomfortable?"

"Of course not. Why are you asking me this suddenly? Did Mako say something to you? Because I swear, Korren and Mako don't get along very well. They had a fight a few days ago. Anything Mako says is bound to be bias."

Mako? Yasuko shook her head. Of course Mako would know the truth. He was always with her. Then maybe…"Did Mako leave this on your neck?" Yasuko pulled back her hair and ran her fingers over the marks. "Do you like Mako?"

Asami looked ready to burst. She covered the marks with her own hand and shook her head. "No. I-"

"No? Then who Asami? You have to tell me."

The maid girls quickly smoothed out the dress for Asami and collected the black one. Then they scurried back into their corner of the room where they belonged. There was the faintest hint of amusement on their lips, but Yasuko had no time to snap at them. _This was the furthest thing from funny._ Some awful could've happened to Asami and they were so uncouth they would giggle at it.

Asami took her time answering. She instead looked back at herself in the mirror. The dress did fit her nicely. The dark colors of it clashed with the pale of her skin. It clung to her curves and defined her breasts. The bottom of it swayed gracefully when she moved. Any man who might have seen her in the moment surely would've wanted her.

"Do you not trust that I would handle it if he dared laid a hand on you?" Yasuko asked. Asami cringed at the words, recoiling away from her mother. "Has he followed you into your room? No? Forced his way in? I hear where he's from they don't have laws. That men can do whatever they damn well please and there is no consequence." Asami was getting older now, yes, but in the moment Yasuko could hardly see her as anything other than her darling little girl; her only little girl. She wanted to wrap her arms around her, engulf her in safety. She wished Asami would still cling back to her.

"Mother," Asami started tentatively, "I stand by what I said, he hasn't done anything wrong."

"Are you lying for him now Asami? Has he gotten you that afraid of him? How about I-"

"He hasn't done anything I haven't wanted him to," she said in such a firmness it frightened Yasuko. It suddenly didn't sound like her Asami speaking to her.

"Besides, he…" Asami hesitated, as though she were embarrassed by her next words. "He rejected me." She breathed out a long breath and shook the thought from her head. Straightening up she turned in the mirror, to see how well the dress fit her.

"I like this one."

Yasuko felt every bone in her body become tense. She couldn't wrap her head around the thought that whatever he might have done to her, she...wanted it. "What exactly did you want?" She didn't try to mask the disgust in her voice. It was easy to think that he had forced himself with her, because his people were like that. But not so easy to think that her daughter asked him for anything. No, Asami was too...young. Too innocent. There was no way the thought even crossed her mind.

"Do we have to talk about this? Can't we just pick a dress and move on?"

"Of course we have to talk about it!" Yasuko spat. "It isn't right! What has he done to you?"

A giggle escaped the corner of the room, and Yasuko threw a glare at the two maid girls, who could hardly bite back their laughter. Why was this so funny to them? Asami was the crown Princess of the Fire Nation. Anything that man might of done to her could end badly for the royal family entirely. Much less than that, Asami was still only a child, an easily coerced one. How easy would it be for him to convince her to do something she might not have wanted to otherwise?

Those two things stood in the corner, snickering about it as though it was some joke. They could hardly call themselves women anymore if they would so willingly laugh at something like this.

"Nothing! Like I said, he rejected me. He doesn't want...you know...what you think he wants. Don't be so quick to villainize him, " Asami said.

Yasuko scoffed, "I don't need to villainize anyone. Are you listening to yourself? You make it sound like he's…"

"Not interested in sleeping with me? That's because he isn't. Can we please just pick a dress? I want to just pick one." Asami sounded angry now. Or perhaps she was only hurt. Yasuko couldn't be sure. Her daughter kept so many thoughts to herself lately it's become nearly impossible to be sure of anything she was feeling.

But why would she be so upset that a man like Korren didn't want her. She should've been rejoicing that he didn't want to lay one of his dirty fingers on her...if that was even true. There were plenty of other men who would jump where Korren would not.

"Is that why you defend him? You think his lack of...desire...for you makes him better than other men perhaps?" Yasuko hadn't meant to meet her anger with more anger, but she couldn't stand the thought of her daughter so willingly defending a man like him. She tried to calm down, _it's because she's young. _

"Of course not, he's still just like any other man here. He's relentless, and upset all the time, and sometimes he drinks too much..."

"Please tell me there is no 'but' coming."

Asami shook her head at her mother, "sometimes he talks to me. It's nice."

"Talks to you?"

"Yes."

"Mako talks to you."

"I know, it's just…"

"You've known Mako all your life and you're saying you're more comfortable talking to a brute like Korren?" Yasuko scoffed and turned away, now desperately in need of something to drink to calm her nerves. If this marriage didn't kill her, her teenage daughter certainly would.

"Mako doesn't always talk to me like I'm human."

"No man will ever speak to you like you're human. You know that. You're not a bender in this world. They will never look at you and see anyone important. Don't reprimand Mako for a world he did not create. What is it? Suddenly this man...what is it? He puts you on a pedestal?" Yasuko remembered once feeling the way Asami has. Like she didn't matter to anyone in the world. It was a terrible thing to feel, but it didn't lead her to jump into the arms of the first person who gave her any attention.

"Korren talks to me like I'm human…sometimes it seems like he needs me. Why is it wrong to like that feeling?"

"Because he doesn't mean it. He's just another mongrel and the fact that you've become so enthralled by him only says that you're foolish. Non-bender or not, you weren't born to marry someone like him."

The sun broke through the clouds, and beautiful yellow light filtered in through the stained windows, engulfing the room in a well-needed warmth. There was something awfully sad about the way Asami looked standing there in front of hundreds of dresses and mirrors, her long hair overcasted her face as she hung her head. She was always so timid, so unwilling to act upon her desires, so sensitive. Yasuko cursed, knowing that she been too harsh and in result Asami might cry. The realization of the situation came down heavily upon her and just like that any hope of her daughter falling in love with a nice, firebending young man, vanished.

"Do you want this, Asami?" She fully aware of how strange the words must've sounded coming from her lips. It was rare that she asked Asami what she wanted. A teenage girl couldn't be trusted to make big decisions, and besides, if there was no reason to put Asami in a difficult position, Yasuko tried not to. Still, she asked, perhaps more so for her own curiosity than anything else.

"Does that matter?" Asami lifted her head, and stared back at her through the mirror.

"It matters to me," Yasuko tried to respond gently.

"Well, then, I don't think this is as bad as it could've been. I'd rather this over what it almost was."

"Okay…" Yasuko swallowed. There was no way Asami could know that for sure, but she figured the argument should end now. "Take that off. I'll pick out a few dresses for your birthday party." She turned around, away from her daughter and back to the many dresses sitting in the room with them.

"Oh, you'll be so happy to know who I've invited. One thing this party won't be is short of entertainment."

-X-

_Hiroshi's mother was a small and chubby woman with big, round bulging eyes. Her teeth were crooked and almost as yellow as the slices of lemons on her plate when she smiled. And when she laughed, Yasuko cringed at the sound. It was a deep and throaty laugh, it sounded like it belonged to man. A man who tried to laugh the way a woman was supposed to. She had big breasts that jiggled like the rest of her and shook the table when she released this monstrous sound. She took to placing a thick hand over them when she did this in a dainty way that didn't fit her. _

_Yasuko gritted her teeth silently in her seat. This woman, this beast of woman, had the nerve to look at her as though she were defective. _

_"Oh," she said, her deep voice booming throughout the dining hall,"she can't? That's a shame." She laughed and the table shook. Yasuko watched her wine form waves that came dangerously close the edge of cup before settling back in the middle. She sighed, hoping the boisterous woman would knock over her cup, so that she had a reason to excuse herself. _

_Her laugh quieted with a 'humph' and she raised an eyebrow to her son with amusement. "These days one can hardly call themselves anything important without being able to at least make a fire flicker." She tried to giggle. The sound that came out was uneven and revolting. Yasuko sipped her wine to keep from rolling her eyes. _

_"I suppose Hiroshi will just have to make up for that too." She smiled as she took a drink from her glass. The action of it was sloppy, like the way a drunkard would swig a drink from his cup. _

_As if his ego wasn't inflated enough Hiroshi also smiled. Yasuko assumed he was trying to be handsome smiling like he did but all he did was ressemble his mother in moment, except his was a wider, more teethier version of her own. The only difference between them was the thick line of hair Hiroshi kept on his upper lip, calling it his 'mustache'. "Well, lets just hope our children get my genes then. I want all of them to be benders." _

_His mother laughed, quipping, "they won't be worth anything if they aren't." _

_Azula laughed along as well, as though some beast of a woman calling Yasuko's future children worthless if they were anything like her was the joke of year. Yasuko sighed, tired of trying to smile, tired of trying to be pleasant. She wasn't sure how much more of it she could stand. _

_These people were hardly worth impressing. Her grandmother engaged her to Hiroshi, sure, but Hiroshi wasn't the son of anyone important. He wasn't rich. He barely even had a pretty face. He simply performed well in the army, and then again in front of her parents, and Azula liked anyone who could impress her with bending. _

_"Honestly, this whole non-bending thing leaves me sick to my stomach. They think they have a free pass in life just because they can't bend anything. I'll tell you, if you can't make children, or fight for your nation you have no purpose." Hiroshi shook his head with dismay, as though the idea of non-benders actually troubled him deeply._

_Azula laughed again, her face going red this time. Yasuko couldn't tell if she was actually entertained or just truly committed to making her guests feel welcomed. _

_"Put them to work is what I always say," his mother nodded. _

_Yasuko turned to her own mother, to see what she thought of the nonsense. Her mother didn't like useless conversation, so Yasuko expected her face to be bored or angry. Or perhaps both. Speaking of the wedding would've been a much better use of time. Instead her mom had a smirk on her face. The drunk kind, like the only way she could endure this dinner was to drink. She clinged onto her husband's arm, while Azulon wore a sour look on his face. Yasuko couldn't help but agree. _

_Her father's promise to fix this had failed brutally. Instead it only made things worse. Azula now wanted them married in a haste, so that there would be no 'mishaps.' Her father tried to explain this to her by saying that perhaps this would be a good thing. Hiroshi was practically a war hero. He's lead men to defend against rebellions in the earth colonies. He's saved many lives. The throne could use someone like that just in case things went badly for them in the future. _

_Yasuko didn't believe a word he spoke, but she accepted them anyways and tried to be kind for the night so that he didn't feel worse. She knew how much he hated this. She knew if he could've, he would've stopped it, but there was just no going against Azula. _

_She wondered what her mother must have thought about all this, underneath all the alcohol. Her mother was a beautiful woman, and Azulon a handsome man. They looked lovely together and on some level Yasuko truly believed that they loved one another. Azulon was always so tender with her. The way he held her hand, and stroked her hair. Even the way he spoke to her was gentle. So what must she think? Her daughter was being married off to filth and she hadn't spoken against it even once. Surely she couldn't have been happy about Azula's choice, but not even to Yasuko had she expressed any concern. _

_Her mother's eyes caught her staring but Yasuko didn't quit it. She stared into her mother's dull brown eyes with a fiery pair of golden ones. Even while in her drunken state, her mother seemed to understand what Yasuko's gaze meant._

_"I believe Yasuko is tired now," her mother announced when things had quieted enough for her to sneak the words in. _

_"Yes," Yasuko agreed, standing all too quickly. "Mother, come, stay with me until I fall asleep." _

_Hiroshi gave her a frown she didn't like. It was too focused to be playful, but they hardly knew each other, and she was sure the fool wouldn't be so brave as to scowl her in front of her father. Nonetheless, his voice was calm when he spoke, "so soon? It's still very early. I haven't even gotten to speak with you alone yet."_

_Yasuko tried not to gag at the thought of being left of alone with this man. "Yes, well," she looked at her mother for an answer and instead found amused eyes staring back at her. "Women are very fragile creatures. We need our rest." _

_"You don't think you can last a bit longer?" He leaned forward and smiled, as though that were to sway her some. _

_"No. Mother," she pulled her mother up from her seat and was quick to say her goodnights, but even then Hiroshi stood alongside them. _

_"Let me walk you to your room then," he insisted. _

_"No." _

_"Then, will I at least see you tomorrow?" _

_Yasuko looked wearily to her mother. "We have a, um, benefit to attend tomorrow. It'd be better if I weren't bothered." _

_"Are you saying I bother you?" _

_His mother made a disgusting sound and rolled her bulging eyes. _

_"Um,"_

_"Oh, just let him walk you!" Azula insisted. "It couldn't hurt you, could it? Go now." Hiroshi smiled at this and thanked Azula for her kindness. _

_Yasuko reluctantly let her fingers loosen from around her mother's arm. Hiroshi took one of her hands in his own. She didn't like the way his hands felt in hers. They were so big, so moist and hairy. _

_She frowned and bid a final goodnight to her parents and then to her guests as she left. _

_-x- _

_"You know, you shouldn't embarrass me like that." Hiroshi said as they walked. _

_"Embarrass you?" Yasuko scoffed. "Well, pardon me. I hadn't meant to." _

_"Yes, well you should be more aware of things you do. When a man offers to walk you anywhere you're supposed to say yes. It's the polite thing to do. Especially when that man is willing to marry you. You know, despite all your…" _

_"My?" Yasuko dared him to continue. _

_"Your quirks." _

_"Quirks?" _

_"Would you rather I called them disabilities?" He laughed in a way that made her skin crawl. _

_"No." _

_"Exactly. You know I could've had any other woman. You ought be a bit more grateful. You wouldn't even talk to my mother all night. How do you think that made her feel?" _

_Yasuko seriously considered if she was supposed to care or not, but respectfully she apologized and tried to quicken her pace to her room, hoping he would get the hint and leave her be. _

_"It doesn't matter if you're sorry, Yasuko. You hurt her feelings and it wasn't lady-like. I won't have a wife who isn't respectful. You should have never done it in the first place." _

_"Well, there isn't much I can do to fix it now, can I?" She was fully aware of the attitude in her voice, and so was he as he stopped walking entirely to glare at her for a second. Clearly, he did not know who he was dealing with. Her father would never even so much as let a man look at her the way he dared to. She smiled at the thought of Azulon pummeling Hiroshi into the ground. _

_"It's in your interest to correct your tone before we get married. I won't have a woman like you talking to me that way. And you can go out with my mother with tomorrow. She likes to shop, she will enjoy it." _

_She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw San, a guard boy who was often assigned to accompany her around, standing in front of her door. She fought her way from Hiroshi's grip and ran to him, smiling a bit larger than she should've. _

_"There you are," San said. "Your father asked me to stay here tonight, do you mind?" _

_"No, not at all, actually," she looked back at Hiroshi wearily, and nodded. "I'm very happy you're here." _

_"Who's this?" Hiroshi asked as he approached. "You two seem friendly." _

_"This is San, he's a guard here in the palace." _

_"Hoping to one day make it into the army," San stated proudly. "And you are?" _

_"Her husband." Hiroshi gripped yasuko's hand and pulled her back close to him. "Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight?" _

_Yasuko resisted her urge to gag. "I don't think that would be appropriate." _

_Hiroshi grinned, "I can think of far more inappropriate things we could do tonight. A kiss wouldn't hurt you." _

_"Yes, well, I'd prefer not to." _

_He tightened his grip and licked his lips in a slimy way. Yasuko winced and suddenly the wetness of his lips attacked her and she was stiff in his arms. He didn't release her until after he had forced her mouth open and slipped his tongue inside for a few seconds. "See, that wasn't so-" _

_She hit him with all the force she could muster up in one hand. It was loud enough to echo in the quiet halls, and hard enough to leave a reddening mark on his cheek. "I'm going to tell my father," she threatened. "It's in **your** interest to climb into your mother's breasts and hide." _

_San was in between them before he could regain a hold on her, "I think that's enough for one night. It was nice meeting you but it's time you leave." _

_Hiroshi glared at her, "You can't tell me what to do with my wife. Obviously you all have been letting her get away with too much-" _

_"Goodnight now," San said sternly. "This won't end well for you should she actually tell Fire Lord Azulon. Have you not heard the stories? This is his precious daughter, Yasuko. You might not live to threaten her again if he finds out." _

-X-

Yara was a small and bony old woman with wild blue eyes and coily grey hair that usually fell in braids down her shoulders. She looked too old to be working anywhere, and moved too slowly to do anything substantial. Yasuko had seen her around before. Some of the younger girls in the Court took to calling her 'the witch' because of how she looked. The name seemed appropriate now that Yasuko truly got the chance to look at her. It was her that helped serve the dinner table.

She moved slowly between the four of them, pouring wine, as that was her only job. Somehow she still managed to keep them waiting. She seemed to take special care when she arrived at Korren. She leaned over him and smiled, her wrinkles becoming even more defined in the action of it.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him, her tone motherly and somehow disapproving. Yasuko wondered if they must've known each other for her to be so friendly toward him or if it was simply a water tribe thing.

"Fine," he grimaced at her as though the question offended him somehow. "Asami, you remember Yara, don't you? You had her as a nurse…"

"Yes, I remember." Asami smiled up at the woman as well. "I see you around all the time. You must mean something to Korren if he remembers your name."

"More like she doesn't ever leave me alone. It'd be impossible to forget her with her nagging in my ear all the time," he mumbled.

"Forgive him," Asami pleaded with the woman, jokingly. "He's cranky, he doesn't mean that."

The old woman didn't seem to notice however, and went on to say, "You're breaking your promise to me because you spend all your time-"

"Yes, Yara. Trouble me about it another time. " The old woman gave him a nasty look he didn't seem to mind as she turned away from them.

Yasuko was baffled by it. How absolutely rude of her. Had Hiroshi been there, he might have burned her face off right then. Instead Korren just turned to his food without the slightest hint that it had upset him.

Yasuko supposed where he's from women could get away with things like that though. They were a lawless people.

Still though, Korren might not have meant anything to her personally, but if he was going to be a Prince in the Fire Nation then he should at least act like it.

"You shouldn't let servants look at you that way," Yasuko said matter of factly. "You'll receive a bad name for yourself if you do."

Korren raised an eyebrow up at her, and then glanced back the old woman who was slowly making her way to the kitchen. "She's old. She'll die soon without my help anyhow."

"All the more reason she should know her place."

Korren didn't respond, instead took a sip from his wine. Yasuko continued, "if the men were here, wouldn't it embarrass you? Being looked at by a woman in such a way."

"Mother," Asami started, her voice low, almost warning-like. "Korren wasn't offended. Let it go."

"It's okay, it wouldn't have offended me. Yara is just a nag. I'd always be angry if I let every little thing she did offend me." He shrugged his shoulders and went back to his meal.

"Did you know her when you were in the Water Tribe?" Asami inquired. Yasuko tensed, the men of the table hated when she spoke and wasn't spoken to. Especially her father, but Hiroshi's absents from the table was no excuse to be careless.

Korren smiled at her however, and nodded lightly. "A little. She, um...she knew my mother and helped raise me. I don't remember her much though. I think I was too focused on other things to notice her in my life."

"Even so, you must feel at home having her here with you." Safaia said. She sat beside Yasuko, with her ever-wailing son suckling from her breast under a blanket. Yasuko didn't feel the same pang of worry for her as she did for Asami. Safaia was hiroshi's younger sister. Korren could do whatever he damn well pleased with her for all she cared.

"No," Korren shook his head. "Nothing here feels like home. And Yara was not a servant. This is what you've made her."

"Yes, but she is so much more useful now." Safaia smiled and Yasuko grinned, waiting to see what the Beast of the South would do to her. If he wasn't offended earlier, he damn-well had to have been now.

Korren made a face. It wasn't dark or menacing. It was just a face of utter discomfort. "She had plenty use as a healer, and a mid-wife..."

"Well I'm sure she did, but-"

"Auntie, did mother show you the dresses she picked out for my birthday? They're absolutely stunning. You should come by my room later. I'll put them on for you." Safaia's attention easily turned to Asami. She was always so willing to indulge her niece in whatever it was she wanted. Asami had always been good at keeping Safaia focused on her.

"Yes, Asami. Of course, I'll come." Safaia shared a smile with Asami and soon enough the two of them went off into a different conversation all on their own.

Korren seemed to relax back into his seat as soon as the conversation was not about him anymore. He ate him food quietly, barely even looking up to see the faces of the people he dined with.

Yasuko hadn't meant to, but she kept stealing glances of him. She had to know what it was about him that had both her husband and her daughter so entangled. Hiroshi supposedly liked him because he was the _Avatar_. That was a term that hadn't been used in nearly a century, so Yasuko couldn't see any importance in it.

He surely didn't look overly strong. He was nothing compared to the men in her army. He was a lean thing. He didn't look like the thick, hairy men of the water tribes. He was much smaller than she expected. Yasuko was convinced that in a year or two Asami would be taller than he was.

She supposed he was handsome though. Not as handsome as Mako or any other guard boy in the palace, but she could see why Asami might have liked him. He had such soft features, and the blue eyes were perhaps one of the only beautiful traits his people possessed. Even the messiness of his hair didn't do him entirely bad. Still, he was nothing she would've rebelled against her parents for.

Yasuko sighed as she thought to herself, Asami truly was only a teenage girl. Of course she craved him. He was different, and that must've been exciting for her. She could only hope her daughter would come to her senses soon.

"No, Auntie, there won't be anything like that at my party!" Asami insisted with an amused smile.

"But performers are always wonderful," Safaia insisted. "One or two couldn't hurt."

"It always turns into something it shouldn't be. And this is Korren's first time coming to one of my birthday parties. He doesn't need to see that." Asami slammed her hand down insistently. The action of it would've been cute and joking if she hadn't clumsily knocked over her wine glass, causing a stream of red of pour down into Korren's lap.

Korren's eyebrow twitched, and Yasuko was so sure she knew that look. "No!" She shouted and shot to her feet, as he lifted his hand into the air. His blue eyes met her golden ones in confusion. Instead of what she expected, the stream of wine stopped dripping into his lap stopped and instead hovered in the air.

A moment of silence passed before he grinned at her, "is there no bending allowed at the table, Yasuko?"

She frowned, wishing her heart would stop pounding so loudly in her ears as she sat back down, embarrassed, but relieved. He proceeded to gather the rest of wine into a ball and hover it above Asami's pretty white and gold dress. Her face was bright red as he teased her, but she laughed nonetheless.

"Don't you think I'm entitled to a little payback? It's only fair." He grinned. This was the most Yasuko had seen him smile, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"I thought you liked my dress," Asami teased back. "You'd so willingly ruin it?"

"I dunno. I hear wine is a hard stain to get out...and it does kind of look like I peed myself. Are you trying to make a fool of me Asami?" Yasuko tense as she watched their exchange, not sure if she should jump in or not. She hardly knew Korren, it was hard to decipher between what he said in jest and what he actually meant.

"Of course not…" Asami broke into a giggle and he laughed, shaking his head and placing the wine back in its glass.

"I didn't mean to interrupt. As you were saying...um, something about what I don't need to see at your party?" he asked.

Asami nodded as she began to explain that sometimes the performers were a bit to eccentric, and fed off the excitement of the crowd. It didn't always lead down the best path. Korren eased back into his relaxed position, pulling Asami nearer to him as he listened, seemingly intent.

There was something familiar about the way he wrapped his arms around Asami, about the way he allowed her to cling onto him when she became excited. He touched he with such gentleness, and watched her with something like fondness, it was hard to think they hadn't known each other long. Something panged at Yasuko's heart, aside from her hatred for him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

-X-

Asami seemed to have a hard time untangling herself from Korren at the dinner table. She latched onto him half drunkenly, half tirely. The conversation died down soon after Safaia left with a screaming child in her hands, saying he 'only needed some sleep to calm down'. She bid everyone goodnight and soon the room filled with a pleasant silence. Yasuko thought the feeling of boredom that soon overtook her was shared, until she looked up and found them much like two lovers engaged in a private, and intimate conversation among themselves.

Asami was all but sitting in his lap, with his lips in a position Yasuko didn't like. He seemed to be telling her something. Whatever it was it had her attention, as her eyes were wide and focused and her cheeks flushed red.

He seemed to be enjoying her reaction. A chuckle escaped him every now and then. Yasuko wondered how long she would have to stare for them to realize how inappropriate it was. It took them a long while to become attentive to anything outside their bubble and in that time Yasuko realized how much she has truly lost her daughter. And to that man of all people.

The realization of it stung, and her body burned with a new reason to hate him. She missed the days when Asami was small and didn't want to leave her lap. They would spend hours just cuddling one another, because near everything scared Asami. Now it seemed like Korren was taking her place.

Even though he seemed to touch her softly, and managed to speak to her without sounding like a monster, Yasuko still worried for her daughter. She couldn't help but think about how kind Hiroshi seemed when they had first met before the dinner.

He had greeted her Mother with smiles, and handshakes, and kisses. Yasuko was already bitter about having to meet him in the first place, but if she hadn't been she might have gotten wrapped up in all his pleasantries. After all, he was charismatic enough to sway Azula into marrying him into the family.

But soon after all of that his smiles turned into grimaces and his hands wrapped around her neck and burned like hot iron. And kisses, oh his kisses….

Yasuko cringed as Korren leaned down and placed a tender kiss on Asami's collarbone. Her daughter was so naive to trust him. She hadn't trust Hiroshi for a second. Her guard was up at all times and still…

She could only imagine all the things Korren could do to her because Asami _did_ trust him.

Even when they finally did look up, they weren't quick to separate. Asami didn't seem to want to, and Korren wasn't exactly pushing her away either.

Yasuko sighed and tried not to look too disapproving. The last thing she wanted to do was offend the southern beast.

"Time for bed?" she asked her daughter. "It's getting late for you, you should go to bed."

Asami nodded in agreement, but didn't stand immediately as Yasuko did, "Walk me?" She asked Korren. "You owe me a kiss goodnight, remember?" She said this lowly, and had it not been for worry causing her to listen in, Yasuko wouldn't have caught it.

Korren smiled at her gently and nodded. He took her hand into his and began walking her out.

"Asami!" Yasuko protested. "I thought I would walk you. Come, I'll stay until you fall asleep." She could see the disappointment on her daughter's face immediately, but Asami shared a look with Korren and then obediently let him go to take Yasuko's waiting hands. A warm feeling of safety flooded Yasuko to have Asami back in her arms again for the night.

"That's perhaps a better idea," Korren said, somewhat passively. He seemed to understand that he was not wanted. "I'll see you in the morning then."

-X-

_Azula had died a full month before she was to be wedded, but by then it was already too late. _

_Her mother only stared at her, her dull brown eyes tired and almost disappointed. Yasuko couldn't tell. Her mother was rarely ever disappointed in her, she couldn't have known what that would look like on her. Her reaction seemed almost...underwhelming. As though the news Yasuko brought to her was something as simple as a, "Mother I spilled wine on my dress again," instead of the horror of what it actually was. _

_It was her father who couldn't sit still, her father who knocked over everything in his path as he paced the length of the room. It wasn't long before near everything was either on fire on the floor, knocked over, or smashed into pieces. Yasuko couldn't think of a time she had seen him that angry before. _

_Immediately she regretted her decision. She shouldn't have told. She shouldn't have utter a word to anyone. She should've just kept quiet like Hiroshi told her to, and marry him when the time came. _

_It seemed almost selfish of her. Azulon should've been mourning the death of his mother along with the rest of the Fire Nation. Instead, Yasuko took all of his attention away from that. And for what? Something that couldn't be fixed? _

_"I'll kill him. That's what I'll do. I'll kill him," Azulon swore, his fists a flaming ball. _

_Her mother's eyes finally snapped away from her and onto her father. She grimaced, "kill him? And what good will that do? She'll still be pregnant even after he's dead."_

_"I don't care about that! I want him dead! Mother isn't here to protect that bastard anymore. I'll love to see him escape me!" _

_"That isn't a good idea," her mother said. "If not him, who will marry her now?" For the first time that night her mother's eyes fill with tears as she looked at Yasuko. "Look how beautiful you are," she sobbed. "Yasuko, how could you let this happen to you?"_

_"Me?" Yasuko's voice felt unusually small. "I wasn't the one who laid down for him. How could you ask me that?" There was nothing she hated more than crying. It was messy and always left her eyes puffy and sore afterwards, but in this moment she felt as though she desperately needed to let something out. Whatever it was, it came out in the form of hot and heavy tears streaming down her cheeks. _

_"What about San?" Azulon asked. "San has asked to marry you, he would-" _

_"Did San also ask to father a child that isn't his?" Her mother spat back with a venom in her voice. "Would you stop speaking out of anger and actually think for a moment, Azulon." _

_"If anything, that child will not mean anything to me." He spat. With an angry grunt her thrusted his flaming fist forwards and the fire caught onto a set of flowers that sat as decoration in the center of a table. The pedals of it were quick to wither as they burned._

_"Don't say that," her mother insisted. "This is Yasuko's child too. This child will be of her blood as well. Does she mean nothing to you?" _

_Azulon grunted, "I'm going to kill him. He's yet to even marry into the family and already he thinks he could just-" Azulon struggled to breathe. "When did this happen? How many times? Tell me Yasuko. How long has he forced you to keep quiet?" _

_"Oh, come on. It was her choice. No one can force Yasuko to do anything. She knows that." Her mother turned to her with worried eyes, "tell me, my dear. Why didn't you tell anyone? What held you back?" _

_Yasuko swallowed a lump in her throat and tried to compose herself. As soon as she thought she had the tears under control, they came back violently to point where getting even a simple word out was near impossible. _

_She supposed it was better though. The last thing she wanted to do was tell her mother that he had frightened her. Him, a short fat man with absolutely nothing worth while to his name, had scared her to the point where she didn't feel safe going to her father, the Fire Lord, about it. _

_It all seemed so silly in her head as she thought about it. _

_"Oh this is no use. Here," Her mother pulled her seat closer to her, and wrapped her in a warm hug, allowing Yasuko to cry into her shoulder. "Azulon, would you put those out? Are you trying to burn the palace down?" She didn't see, but she heard her father grunt and then step away, presumably to what her mother asked of him._

_"If anything, I won't have an illegitimate grandchild," her mother declared. _

_"What about San?" _

_"You think San will want a child that isn't his to succeed him? Especially that man's child? The royal family will not suffer that embarrassment. What's done is done. There's no point-" _

_"I promised my daughter happiness, Hitomi, what about her?" her father rarely yelled at her mother. Yasuko cringed to think she caused this._

_"Yasuko can find happiness with San or any other man if she wishes it, **after **she's married. Now enough of this. This didn't happen. We will carry on as planned." _

-X-

She hadn't expected to be so tired, but when the day could finally be called over, Yasuko slumped into a seat in her room and closed her eyes. She was so comfortable sleep could've taken her right then and there. But then, warm hands found their way around her neck, and a weight settled into her lap. The hands began down her chest to where they undid the ties of her dress traced her bare skin with affection.

"Aya, I'm tired," Yasuko protested grabbing the hands where they were to stop them. She didn't have to look to know that the girl atop her was pouting, and doing that thing she did with her eyes when she didn't get her way. Yasuko didn't want to look, because if she did, she would surely be getting no sleep tonight.

"You were gone all day. I thought for sure you had left me," Aya said, leaning forward kiss at Yasuko's neck. Yasuko groaned, reluctantly opening her eyes. Aya was wearing one of her dresses. It was little too big for her small frame and hung from her loosely. Something about it was absolutely sexy in a way Yasuko couldn't explain, but she pushed the girl away none the less. Somehow this didn't discourage Aya. Instead her bright green eyes shimmered with a challenge but before she could climb back into her lap Yasuko stood.

"Have you finished all your work for the day? Or were you sitting around waiting for me?" Yasuko questioned. She tried not to sound too commanding, as Aya would only see that as teasing. The girl wasn't quite able to differentiate between when Yasuko wanted her and when she wanted to her to do her job.

"Would you be upset if I spent the day in your closet? You have such wonderful clothes."

Yasuko sighed, "yes, Aya, I would be. You do know your job isn't to wait in my bed? I do expect you to clean, and to do whatever else it is you have to."

"But I thought you liked it when I waited for you."

"Aya, you do know you are replaceable right?" Yasuko hadn't meant to snap. It only ever worsened Aya's disobedience and as much as Yasuko knew she was beneath her, she couldn't help forgive her soon after.

"You wouldn't dare!" Aya giggled, she laid stretched out in the seat, allowing the dress to fall scantily from her shoulders. "Say what you will, Yasuko, I think you like me."

Yasuko chuckled, "you wouldn't be so quick to think so if you knew how many of _yous _I've had."

That made Aya's smile go away quickly, as though she suddenly remembered the nature of their relationship.

Yasuko smiled, victoriously, "You wouldn't believe the day I've had. I want nothing more than bath, and some wine, and-"

"Me?" Aya seemed hopeful.

"-and sleep. Go prepare a hot bath for me." Aya whined, annoyingly, but stood. "Perhaps if you don't annoy me in the time it takes you to prepare the water, you can join me." It was wrong to make her hopeful of anything, but Yasuko couldn't help it. A colony brat or not, Aya was cute and good at what Yasuko wanted her to do. It was hard to stop wanting to see her smile. "You'd better hurry. I don't have much patience left."

Aya nodded and scurried away quickly. As soon as she was out of sight, Yasuko collapsed back into her seat and closed her eyes. She tried to breath, tried to let the agitation the day brought her melt away.

Just as she could feel herself start to relax, a hard knock on the door brought her back to the present. She groaned as she glared at it, deciding whether or not she wanted to deal with anyone else for the night.

To her surprise when she didn't move fast enough, the person knocked again. _Who in their right mind would dare_… no one disturbed her while she was in her room, they all knew better. She grimaced as she stood.

"This had best be important," she grumbled as she swung the door open.

Korren stood tall and dignified before her. He was the the last person she expected to see, especially after how awful the day had been, but there we was, clad in his old fashioned blue tunic and wine stained slacks.

Yasuko wasn't sure what to think of him being in front of her door so late at night, but she humbled herself regardless. "What is it?"

"I want to speak with you," he said, his voice strangely soft for a man. "May I come in?"

-x-

Korren sat across from her. He was so stiff, his face so focused and serious. She was used to be being that way around her, but that was only ever because they knew the truth about her. They knew who she had on her side and how easily they would be stripped of their power if they upset her. What reason could Korren, a foreign man with hardly so much as knowledge of the land he was in, have to be so serious about?

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't waste my time," Yasuko said. "What do you want? Get on with it."

Korren nodded, "I understand…" and yet he stayed silent for a while longer. She didn't like the way his eyes studied her. It seemed almost intrusive in a way. He roamed all over her, her face, her hands, her body…

The feeling of it was disturbingly familiar, and yet she didn't feel the need to run from this man, just to cover herself, yet she knew if she dared reach to close the opening of her dress it would only make her look smaller to him.

"What?!" She snapped, instead. "Did you come all this way to look at me?"

"No, I want to talk. I'm just thinking about how I should start. I don't have much experience speaking to a woman about these kinds of things."

She rolled her eyes, "I'll give you a hint. That was a terrible way to start."

He seemed genuinely confused as he looked at her, as though he couldn't see where he went wrong. "You know about my war, don't you?"

Yasuko sighed. Yes, she had heard about the war, if it could even be called that. To her, it seemed more like two brothers having a petty little fight about which toy was better. It was very easy for her to ignore the water tribes that were so far away that their silly little bloodshed didn't affect the Fire Nation in anyway. Yasuko knew of it, only because it was her job to know. Otherwise, she couldn't care less.

"What of it?" she asked.

"Well, if I'm going to win, I'll need men."

"As you would with any war," Yasuko agreed. "Have you spoken to Hiroshi about this sudden realization of yours? You're his problem. Why bring it to me? _A woman_ nonetheless."

Korren snorted, his face suddenly going darker. Yasuko smiled to herself. She knew that look. Hiroshi had done something stupid.

"Hiroshi doesn't share my concerns."

"I can't imagine he does…"

"Asami tells me that you handle these things. That's why I've come to you. I do hope you're more sensible than he is." Yasuko's ears perked at the mention of her daughter's name.

"Does Asami tell you a lot of things?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm only wondering. You two seem close." Yasuko was well aware of the danger she was putting herself in by speaking to him in such a way, especially as they were alone, but she couldn't help herself. She couldn't stand him. She couldn't stand the way he looked at her daughter. She couldn't stand they way he truly believed he was a Prince of some sort. She couldn't stand that he had so much nerve as to walk into her room and speak about his war as though it was her problem as well.

"Asami is wonderful," he started. Yasuko raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Do you love her then?" The question seemed to catch him off guard. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and frowned.

"I wouldn't call it love just yet," he admitted. "We're still getting to know each other."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Don't you think it's important I know before I marry her?"

Yasuko chuckled, "you speak as though you have a choice. You think Hiroshi will just send you back home if you decide you don't like her?"

Korren sighed. "I didn't come here to talk about this."

"You're free to leave if you're uncomfortable. After all, I didn't invite you here." Yasuko quipped.

A long groan of annoyance escaped him. And Yasuko felt her heart sink at the sound of it. Her skin ached with the ghost of a pain she knew, but it didn't actually come.

Korren blinked, then answered, "no, I don't think Hiroshi will be sending me home without first getting what he wants. But while I am here, I think it's best I make the most of it."

"So, what exactly do you think you know about her?" He breathed in, long and deep, then slumped back into his seat, as though he accepted that he would be there for a while. Yasuko stared at him. Everything about him was so unfamiliar. Hiroshi would've gotten annoyed and...well...he would've done what he always did.

"I think I know you two are the exact same person," he said. "You're both hiding something from the public. Asami is just as you are. As soon as you get her alone, she becomes so determined, and persuasive...and talkative."

Yasuko looked at him for a long while. _Asami? _Her Asami? Asami was always so quiet around her. She could hardly ever get Asami to speak during council meetings, much less to persuade anyone into doing anything. Yasuko frowned. Why would Asami change her demeanor for him of all people? What could he possibly offer her?

"Oh," she swallowed. She would have to have a serious conversation with Asami soon.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice going lower, softer. "Have I worried you?"

Yasuko scoffed, "of course not. You're just a strange man is all. You have gotten Asami very confused. I won't forgive you for that."

"Confused?"

"Yes, she's a child. She doesn't know what she wants. And suddenly you come along and everything is all about you. It sickens me that she feels something for you."

He stayed quiet. His blue eyes froze on her as though she had just said something that terrified him. She couldn't be sure as to what, but she didn't like the way his face twisted, like he was he upset, or in pain.

"I see," he frowned. "What do you think that something is?"

"Who knows truly? She's a silly little girl and you're the tall dark man in her fairy tale. She's confused."

"Right…" He seemed lost in his thoughts for a moment, and Yasuko wasn't sure what to make of the far away look that overtook him. It was almost as though he was afraid, and yet Yasuko couldn't find a reason as to why he might be. She certainly was of no threat to him, regardless of how much she wanted to be.

"She said you rejected her."

"I'm sorry?" he blinked up at her.

"Asami said you didn't want to have sex with her," Yasuko stated bluntly. "It bothers me that she's offered, but not as much as the idea that you refused her."

Korren seemed to force a laugh, "it bothers you that I didn't want to have sex with your daughter?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that, and you know it. I mean...why? Name a man and I can assure you that he would've. What makes you so different?" Yasuko shrugged. As young as Asami was, she was still beautiful. Yasuko had to come to terms with the idea that she would one day lay beneath a man. She tried her hardest not to let it bother her. Particularly since Asami was now engaged.

Korren awkwardly shrugged his shoulders, "is it so bad that I want to wait?"

The words sounded odd coming from him. She had perceived him in such a way that it became difficult to see him in any other way. At the moment he wasn't exactly fitting her description of him.

"But aren't you from the water tribe?"

Korren shrugged again, "yes. What about it?"

"I thought your people-"

"You think we're rapists. I'm well aware."

Yasuko blinked, "aren't you? I hear it's violent in your tribe specifically. Why wouldn't I think that?"

"Despite what you may think, rape is a serious crime where I'm from. A family has the right to defend the honor of any woman who has suffered that. It's rare that I'm around to see the punishment for it, but I've caught one or two. It makes for quite the entertainment."

Yasuko shivered to think of Hiroshi being dragged through the southern tundra, his body red and beaten. His hands bound the same way he had bound hers…

"You aren't the first person to make some ignorant assumption since I've been here. I think I'm getting used to it."

"Where are you if not around to dole out punishment? I thought you were something like a Chief?" Yasuko found herself oddly interested in him suddenly. Perhaps because he was slightly different for how she had originally thought.

"At war." Korren groaned, "can we talk about that now?"

Yasuko rolled her eyes and straightened up in her seat. "I'm listening."

"The northern army has an advantage over us. It was getting stronger when I left, so I can only imagine what it must be like now," Korren said. He suddenly looked so serious, it made Yasuko want to laugh. He took his game of war so seriously, as though it actually meant anything.

"They're these _huge_, spirit monsters. Spirits don't usually participate in human affairs, but I imagine the Northern Chief has struck a deal with them."

Yasuko didn't know much about spirits, the history books hardly ever mentioned them because they weren't something native to Fire Nation history. Besides, the spirits never really bothered them. Every once in awhile one would pop up, but they never reeked havoc so they were ignored. It was hard to imagine the tiny little things participating in a war.

"What is this war over anyhow? Its serious enough to get spirits involved?"

"Yeah, it is. It isn't right to worship spirits they way they do. The spirit world has been out of balance for far too long, who know what they could be unleashing."

Yasuko laughed, "this is ridiculous. It's an easy fix isn't it? You're the Avatar. You should just go talk to them, Then this war would be over."

"I have no connection with the spirit world. I don't even know what being the Avatar means."

"Oh? That's wonderful. Hiroshi had so much faith in you being the Avatar, and you don't even know how to work it." Her laughter seemed to annoy him some, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"It isn't funny. Hiroshi doesn't seem to understand. I need to put a stop to this. I've seen what those things could do to men twice my size. If you want the Fire Empire to survive another generation…"

"Please, you truly believe that it will affect us in any way?"

Korren thought on it for a moment before he nodded, "they're radical enough and their goal is unclear. It wouldn't surprise me if they come for the fire empire once they're finished with us."

"Yasuko!" Aya came trotting out of the bathroom, her small figure dripping wet and covered in soap bubbles. "The water is getting so cold-"

Yasuko jolted from her seat and glared at her. While she seemed to freeze with her eyes focused on Korren. Korren stood as well, the shock of it all written all over his face.

"I-" she recoiled a bit, as Yasuko charged towards her.

"Are you an idiot? Couldn't you hear I had company?" She grabbed the girl by the arm and shoved her back into the bathroom.

"I'm sorry-" Aya protested. "You just taking so long!"

"It isn't your place to rush me!"

When Yasuko turned back to Korren he was grinning where he stood. "You can't say a word! To anyone!" She growled. "Wipe that smile off your face and assure me that you understand."

"I do," he nodded. "I won't tell anyone you prefer the company of women-"

"_Shut up._"

"You can trust that I won't tell anyone about your affair..can I trust that you seriously consider my request?" She frowned.

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"I wouldn't, I know how important private matters can be. So you can trust me with it. But before I leave tonight, I need to know that you will take this into consideration."

Yasuko stared at him for a long while. Though he still had his stupid grin on his face, he seemed serious. Yasuko sighed. "I'll need some time to consider it. I have my own battles to supply."

"Battles?" Korren frowned in confusion. "What battles? As far as I can see everything here is under control."

Yasuko glared at him, "you go to meetings with Hiroshi's council all the time and you don't know about the Earth Colonies-" she stopped short and sighed. Of course Korren wouldn't know anything about that. Hiroshi didn't bring it up.

"I'll offer you this, come to my next meeting. We will properly discuss it with advisors. You'll know then."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I was really struggling with my writing for some time so...yeah. I know I take forever to post. I'm sorry. **

**Please leave me a comment telling me what you thought of the chapter! I still totally live for those! :) I hope this was an interesting enough Yasuko backstory **

**Huge thanks to Cookie as usual. She had a lot to deal with these past few months. **

**Till next time**

***Flies away* **


	12. Chapter 12

***Comes from the shadows* Hi. It's been awhile. Hope you enjoy this chapter. *Places chapter down gently* **

* * *

**Chapter 12- A Growing Panic **

Yasuko's council was much smaller than Hiroshi's already tiny one. Korren wasn't sure if that should have worried him or not. In the South, 'council' meant near all the men of his tribe and their sons to sit down and have a very loud argument over their next move concerning whatever issue was at hand. Of course, then that decision would be brought to high council, and then the elders, but ultimately the Chief had final say in what was done; though it was very unlikely he would work against the judgement of his elders.

In the Fire Nation, council meant a few old men with more money and power than any one man should have, sitting down with other old rich men to boast about their riches for a few hours before suggesting they handle their problems they way they always did- with the all powerful army.

For a moment before sitting down, Korren considered if this were a waste of time or not. Perhaps, he should have simply commandeered a warship with a few soldiers aboard and been on his way. After thinking it over, he realized that the situation might have played out a lot more smoothly in his head than it would've if he actually took off with one of Hiroshi's ships. There would have been a lot of bloodshed, a lot of fire. He doubt those men would fight for him and he alone wouldn't be enough to hold off the brunt of Hiroshi's armies. He probably wouldn't have even made it halfway home before the entire ocean was filled with the Fire Nation navy chasing after him. A few men loyal to their Fire Lord on one lousy ship wouldn't have been worth all the disaster it brought, so he took his seat as quietly as he could.

They all stared at him the way his men at home did, like he didn't belong. Korren supposed he didn't. He skipped over all the fancy red clothing they had left in his wardrobe for his usual blue tunic and slacks that he found at the back, almost hidden from him.

He didn't look like they did. All of them were nothing more than old, wrinkled faces and sunken eyes; more sluggish and quiet than Hiroshi's arrogant men. They reminded him of his elders. How they quietly looked at him with eyes full of ridicule. For a second he wondered if he should have dropped to his knees and bowed to them, or perhaps should have waited for permission before taking a seat. Hiroshi's men were so careful not to offend him that they hardly even looked in his direction. It was clear that Yasuko had not instructed them to be kind, and they would face no punishment from her for speaking their mind.

But they said nothing, and Yasuko, at the end of the table, where Hiroshi should've been, waited patiently for him finish sitting before introducing him as 'The Southern Boy'.

"He will be joining us for a while," she said. The council made no sound in response, only watched him settle in before their weary eyes drifted back to Yasuko and waited for her guidance. It was almost comforting to hear her say that. Unlike Hiroshi, Korren had little doubt she would stray from her word and keep him in consideration.

"I'll go slow for you Korren," she said, her face unmoving from its solemn expression, "because I know you have trouble comprehending how a woman could possibly know these things. I don't want you to fall behind. Let's start from the top. He is our guest. We don't want him confused."

One of the old men started first, as if rehearsed. "Kuvira…" he hissed out her name, low and long, like it was heavy on his tongue. "She is nothing but trouble." His old finger waved pointedly as he spoke, "that _woman_! First, she kills our men, goes after our weaponry, then has the outright nerve to ask for our leave?"

He turned, speaking directly to Korren, as he was the only one who was unaware of the situation. "Savage! She makes your brothers looks delicate and refined. You know what she does, boy? She holds our men hostage. Tries to use them to negotiate. A woman! Could you believe? And when we don't comply she sends them back to their families in pieces. I got my son's head back before his body."

Korren could imagine the sight, bloody and gruesome. His mind wandered to Griff, who always hated him, but when he lost his first born son in the war it was Korren who pulled him away from the body. The body that was almost unrecognizable. Griff's son, Genji, had fought until he couldn't anymore. Korren didn't even want to know how many men it took to take him down. Almost no one else had the stomach to go near the body that first night, and Korren couldn't blame them. They had suffered terrible losses and he himself had been feeling defeated. Seeing their brother's limbs spread out like that, seeing what was inside of him, was too much. So he let them rest, let Griff take his tent for the night while he cried. He, his father, Barse, and a few other men who didn't know how to cry, took the responsibility of wrapping the bodies and preparing them for burial.

Losing a son in such a way was a hard thing. If it made a big man like Griff break down in tears he couldn't imagine what it must've done to this poor old man. He tried not to look too sympathetic. Yasuko was watching and he had no doubt in his mind she was looking for anything she could to call him weak.

"She started with the lowest ranked men in our army. I think she wanted to get our attention, but when it failed to provoke a response she set her sight on generals, commanding officers...their families," a younger looking man added. "That isn't what concerns us about her, however. Call her...persuasive...if you will. She's trying to piece the colonies back together. Train them. Give them machinary. She doesn't seem to be taking no for an answer."

"I tell you, times have changed. Azulon would have never! He would've been on the first ship over there to keep her in place. Filthy colonial woman…" the old man grumbled.

Korren shrugged, unsure of what exactly was the right thing to say. Sitting around a table with a bunch of Fire Nation councilmen meant that they might want to hear they were the victims of this woman, that she was wrong and should stand down and be subjected to whatever they wanted from her. But he could remember the fear in his mother's eyes when the Fire Nation made an appearance, when they asked for him…

Still, even so, he needed Yasuko's help. Regardless of how he felt, saying what she wanted to hear was the right thing to do.

"She sounds like any other soldier to me," he said, trying to sound objective, but not too much so. "This is the second time she has caused a problem for your men? If it were my men she were attacking, I would simply execute her and her followers. I would get my hands on her and I wouldn't let go."

The old man's frown turned angry, "you little smart ass! You don't think we've come up with that idea already. We can't ambush her!"

Korren rolled his eyes. "You can ambush anyone if you're smart enough. She's one person. I'm sure she has a following, but for fuck's sake, they're earthbenders! There hasn't been a true master of that element in...how many years? Eighty? Maybe more? How much of a formidable enemy could they be against the oh-so-great Fire Nation."

"No, this woman!" the old man insisted, "she bends..._metal. _I hear her allies all do. And that brother of hers! Some scientist he is! He builds her these giant machines fire couldn't penetrate."

Korren paused._ Metal?_ There have been no metal benders since Toph, the one and only. Some people even speculated it was only tall-tale the elders enjoyed telling to scare the children. Bending was supposed to be simple, earth was only earth. When people start bending things they shouldn't be able to, things were bound to go wrong. Still, one metal bender against the force of the Fire Nation army shouldn't have been a problem.

"Hiroshi has been ignoring her. Letting her run about freely in the lower parts of the Earth Colonies for years, but now she's moving up. Everytime we think we can knock her down a peg she does something that shows she is not afraid to do what she thinks is necessary."

Korren slumped in his seat. The Earth Kingdom served as a warning in the Water Tribes. They were the product of ill-advisement and an illustration of what would happen should a Chief ever strayed from seeking guidance. Because if a kingdom as vast, as well trained and as well innovated as the Earth Kingdom could fall by the hands of the Fire Nation, who at the time had been lesser in every way, simply because of bad leadership then so could anyone.

The last Earth King was nothing but a fool, comfortable behind the faux safety of his walls and men when he should've been weary of the neighboring Kingdom. The Fire Nation had always been greedy and always sought after what they didn't have. It didn't do the Earth Kingdom any good being in such close range. If only the king had more people watching out for these things, if only he could've spotted the spy in his court sooner, if only he had done something about what could've been foreseen, then perhaps his dynasty would have lasted and his people would not be under the guideship of the Fire Nation. Because of him, they had no king, no walls, no central government of their own. It was almost redundant to consider the earth colonies and the fire nation two separate entities.

At least the Water Tribes had their desolation and distance to their Fire Nation never stayed for long nor did they ever leave a representative, but that didn't mean that one misstep wouldn't cost them their freedom.

To the Water Tribes, the Fire Nation seemed to have them under well enough control. They were mostly used for men, benders, and resources. The same way the Fire Nation tried to use the Water Tribes, except the Earth Colonies had a lot more to offer. From where Korren was in the Water Tribe, he couldn't see any trouble in this system. The Fire Nation went, took what they wanted, and left. The Earthbenders weren't strong or brave enough to do anything about it. Never could he imagine that the area was riddled with unrest and revolt. Though, he perhaps he could've imagined that, just not that it would've grown to be anything more than a squeak in the distance for the Fire Nation. The colonies were too divided to be anything resembling threat. But this Kuvira person was disrupting that. He had to admit, it was very brave of her to step forward like she had. But he could see why it must've frightened the Fire Nation's government the way it was. Unity meant that they would lose all their resources. They would no longer be a dictatorship. Kuvira's leadership meant that they would be forced to play nicely or risk having done to them what they did to others.

Korren couldn't help it. He smirked in his seat. He didn't bother trying to hide it as it turned into a fit of booming laughter. Yasuko's eyebrow twitched in anger, but somehow that only made him want to laugh more.

"Something funny, Korren?" She asked, obviously riled.

"No, not at all," he snickered.

"You think me losing my son to that woman was a joke?" The old man complained. He started to stand threateningly while Korren was on the verge of tears.

"Of course not. That's not funny at all. It's just...well…this Kuvira...she's made you her bitch and I bet it's a very unusual position for you. You're supposed to be the terrifying Fire Nation and yet you've let earthbenders put you in a bind? If I had known this was how weak you all were-"

"She bends met-"

"Metal. I heard. Even so, you should have her outnumbered, overpowered. The Colonies are not a united front. You don't need to take them all out for them to fall apart. Just her. How frightening can she be all on her own? She is the most important piece in this, yes? Without her they go back to being...well...colonials. I say you challenge her. See how she fights on her own."

Yasuko looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. He couldn't tell if she was angry or not. The Fire Nation was so used to doing things with the strength of their army he doubted that they had already tried this. Yasuko glanced around at her council. The people there were mostly frowning at him, perhaps because he still had a smirk on his face.

"It's settled then." Yasuko said. "Assuming no one objects, Korren will challenge her and then bring her to me."

Korren frowned, "that's not what I-"

"Well, since you think it will be easy, you should have no problem going there, and bringing her to me. Isn't that right Mr. Avatar?" She was taunting him and he knew it. She didn't actually expect him to- "You bring her to me and you can have all the men you want."

Korren grunted, "I am not your servant boy."

"Of course not. Servant boys do not get paid as well as you will be. Since you have such a mouth, I don't think it would cause too much harm to see how you do. You are to be prince in a few weeks, consider this a test run. You do well and you can have anything you want. Ships. Men. Weapons. I am not my husband, Korren. I will not keep you waiting when you return." She raised an eyebrow at him and looked much like Asami when she did it. Except Korren could never see Asami putting anyone in such a bind. How were these two women related?

"That wasn't what you promised-"

"This is much more than I promised. I said we would discuss it. This is the only time I mentioned anything being set in stone."

Korren groaned, "You don't seem to understand how short I am on time-"

"Then you'd best be quick about it. You can take anything you want, but you must return with Kuvira so she can be properly punished. Do you understand?"

"Fine," he said, somewhat hostile. "I bring you Kuvira, you supply me with men. I must warn you though. These creatures will waste no time. There's nothing to say they won't set their sights here once they're finished with my men. If something happens while I am away because you don't know how to keep your colonies in line, you cannot expect my help."

-X-

It was still daylight when he finally emerged from the council room after hours of being told of what he needed to do. Despite Yasuko being the pain she was, it felt good. There was a familiar ache in the back of his throat from talking so much, but he was fine with it. It felt productive, like it was the first time since he arrived he was actually doing something for the good of his people. For once, heading home didn't seem like something distant. He had a solid course of action, much more than Hiroshi ever provided him with. He'd help Yasuko settle things in the Colonies, bring her Kuvira, and in return he'd get everything he needed to return to his war. It wasn't exactly his ideal timeframe, but it shouldn't take so long either. How much of a threat could a single earthbending woman pose?

He was smiling happily to himself when he entered his room, ready to relax for a few hours, only to find the old woman, Yara, was waiting for him. The sight of her, old and hunched over, rummaging through his things reminded him of his mother for a moment. She went through his things as well, even long after he moved out of his parent's home, he could keep no secrets from her. In the moment Yara looked just like her. He supposed the resemblance was the only reason he didn't immediately pick her up and throw her out into the hall where she belonged.

Still, his lip twitched with annoyance. He could feel the familiar crease of stress marking his forehead once again. "Yara!" He complained. "My room isn't a place for you to just walk into whenever you please. What could you possibly be looking for?" The old woman didn't jump at the sound of his voice, merely looked up at him and grimaced as though he had done something wrong.

"Oh, there she is!" She nagged. "What did I tell you? She spends all her time with that girl! Can't make time for your own blood, can you? You do remember the promise you made to me?" She didn't seem to only be speaking to him, which led Korren to wonder who else was camping out in his room. He became acutely aware just how much of his things were lying on the floor by Yara's feet. His shirts, his pants, his underwears… All his drawers seemed to be empty, or at least disheveled.

His heart began beating loudly in his ears and he realized this meddling old lady must've seen everything he had to offer. It shouldn't have made him so nervous, she had made it clear that she knew a long time ago. He even confirmed it for her, but his hands began to shake, and his breathing came more hitched, more heated in nervousness. For a moment he couldn't even move, only watch as as she paused in her rummaging, holding a rolled up length of fabric in examination. Korren recognized it immediately, but before he could react, before he could snatch it from her hand, she threw it into the lit fireplace, and watched it burn with a satisfied look on her face. His heart fell heavily into his stomach and landed somewhere deep in its pit with a painful 'plop'. Impulsively, he ran towards it, tried to pulled the long piece of fabric from the flames, but as soon as the heat touched his hand, he realized just how stupid of an idea that was. It burned far too quickly to be saved, anyhow.

He watched it in disbelief for a second, watched it blacken, break apart, and fade in with the ash already there. There weren't any words he could speak that fully justified how he felt, so he didn't speak. He tried to compose himself. _It's only a length of fabric, _he tried to tell himself, _there will be more._ But it became increasingly difficult to breathe, his chest felt tight, and his clothes were too hot to be comfortable. His head was drumming painfully to the beat of his heart. At his side his hands shook, and balled into tight fists.

He sucked in a harsh breath, the fire before him roared violently when he let it go. It spat bits of flame around his room, some of it catching on the loose clothing laying around.

"I can't imagine how much pain this must cause you," Yara nagged on behind him. She had already moved on to the next set of clothes, unfolding and shaking out the pieces to see where he might have hid any of his secrets.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" He tried not to shout, but his voice came out broken and harsh. He tried to keep his anger at bay for his own sanity, but the flames in the fireplace reacted to every shaky breath he took regardless, blazing dangerously high and bright red. Still Yara didn't seem frightened. She seemed to barely notice. "Yara! Are you insane? If I don't have something to bind my chest with, they're going to know! They're going to-"

His fingers grabbed on the the sides of his pants and held on tightly. The feeling of it was familiar. He remembered holding on to his father's pants when he had to stand in front of the elders council. Those men stared at him with disgust in their eyes and he couldn't take it. He felt small under their stares and grimaces. He wanted nothing more than be held by his father. Instead, Tonraq ended up shaking him loose, telling him to stand up straight, to not shed a single tear. He remembered failing that task immediately after the first insult came. None of them cared that he was a child, that they probably shouldn't have said the words they did in front of him. They were harsh and relentless with him.

Korren tried to breathe through his pain, but the more breaths he took in the more light headed he became. He should have been used to people talking about him, to them insulting him, to them wanting him dead. He was sure it would be no different in the Fire Nation than it was in the Water Tribe. But here, there was no safety of being the child of the Chief. Hiroshi might just kill him.

But this kind of panic was so different. His binder was the only thing that kept him grounded sometimes. The only reason he could look in the mirror and not immediately be reminded that they were all right, no matter how badly he wanted it, at the end of the day his body and his mind didn't align. His binder was his crutch and Yara was burning them as though they didn't mean anything.

Yara gave him a strange look, her smug look fell from her face. "Oh you poor, poor girl. You're crying." She reached out a hand to touch his face and immediately he slapped it away. The sound of it echoed and briefly stung his fingers. Yara seemed shocked, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't want to be touched. He didn't even want her looking at him. "I'm trying to help you!" she insisted. "Senna was a healer you know, a very gifted one. I'm sure she's taught you something. You should know to take better care of yourself. I shouldn't have to tell you how!"

"THIS!" he shouted, gesturing to all of his things laying on the floor, some of which were now burning, "This doesn't help! You're not helping! Stop that!" He tore a pair of his boxers from her hands so roughly that she stumbled and the fabric of it tore. "Just stop touching everything! I don't-" He stopped short and took in another breath because he had to. He was starting to get dizzy. He couldn't remember to breathe through his panic. The breath felt empty though. Like it didn't actually fill his lungs, though he felt the restraint of his binder were his chest expanded. His legs felt weak.

"I don't understand," Yara said. "What do you have to be afraid of? Did Senna allow you to act like this?"

A deep sound of anger escaped Korren's throat. He could bare to look at her anymore. "Get out!" he ordered. "Just-" He grabbed her by her arm. She was very small, almost flimsy in his hands, it was no problem to pull her across the room and put her out into the hall. "Out!" She protested, but he wasn't listening, he didn't want to. He didn't spare her a second glance as he shut the door.

His room was beginning to smoke. There were burning pieces of clothes, the flames were spreading, but all he could focus on was the the mess Yara made, how he didn't have any bandages left. How his black binder was probably lost somewhere in the flames along with everything else.

His chest tightened with the pain of it all. Fire was so destructive.

-X-

"Prince Korren?" A voice called. Korren cringed at the sound. He was curled against the wall of one of the corridors. He wasn't sure which one because when his room became too overwhelming he left. He wasn't exactly sure where he wanted to go, the unfamiliarity of the place only caused his anxiety to get worse. The last thing he wanted to see anyone.

It turns out it was easy to get lost in the vastness of the Palace, and many of the servants who worked there didn't have any time to give him anything but a passing glance. It wasn't sure how long he walked or how many turns he took, but when he got far enough away, when the noise of the servants moving about faded into the distance, he stopped. He wrapped his arms around himself and sunk down onto the floor, finding comfort in the quiet. He only wanted to focus on breathing. For a long time he didn't seem to be getting any air at all. He was light headed, and everything hurt.

"Prince?" The voice came closer, prompting him to look up at it. His eyes couldn't exactly focus on the person standing in front of him, but beyond them it was sunset, painting the sky a brilliant orange color. "Prince, are you okay?" The voice asked again.

"Y-yeah," he said, but he couldn't bring himself to move, though it was probably the right thing to do. He wanted to stay curled up against the wall. Instead the voice reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder that he shook away from. He didn't want anyone touching his body. The hand recoiled, hesitantly.

"Prince Korren, did something happen? I can go get help if you-"

"No! I don't need help. I..." He forced more air into his lungs.

"Oh- okay. Asami is looking for you...perhaps we should go see her?" The ache in his chest returned and he tighten his hand around himself, hoping to smother it. "Prince?"

"I'm fine…" he croaked out lowly. "I can't see anyone right now. I can't-" _they'll take one look at me and they'll…_ He must've been sitting there for hours, why couldn't he breathe? Why did everything hurt so badly?

"Okay. Okay. That's fine." The voice said, now sound alarmed, more cautious. The figure instead sank down beside him, careful to put enough distance between them. "I'll sit with you then. Until you're ready. Then I'll escort you back." Korren didn't respond. He wasn't sure if appreciated it or not. He surely didn't want to be looked at. But their eyes never stayed on him for long, instead they gazed out into the distance at the sunset with him.

"I'm Lin," they said. "I, um, used to get anxiety attacks like this too."

-X-

"_Korra!" His mother's voice called from their home. "Tell Genji goodbye, sweetheart, it's time for dinner." _

_Korren looked back at his sparring partner with mischievous eyes. Genji was buried under a pile of snow. He looked as though he couldn't get up, but Korren knew he was only pretending. Genji was a whole two years older than he was. He was far more advanced. There was no way he'd been able to actually to tackle him. _

"_Have mercy on me!" He groaned. "I'm too young to die! Please my Princess, not like this!"_

_Korren giggled, walked over to him and stuck his tongue out before running back to the arms of his mother. "Get home before it gets dark, Genji! Tell your mother I said hello." _

_Korren saw Genji effortlessly shake himself free, nod his okays at Senna before he took off running down the street. He made it halfway before he stopped, turned around and ran back. _

"_I'll see you tomorrow, okay Korra?" He asked. Korren shrugged his shoulders. He always saw Genji. Everyday, Genji came for him, walked him to his healing classes and was there when it was over. His presence was a constant, nothing he needed to be reassured of. _

"_Okay, Genji. Home now. Come on, Korra. Inside, wash up." His mother hurried him out of the cold and into their little home. _

_Dinner was already set around the table, and for a change his father was there to eat with them. He looked to Korren with playful impatience. "Sit! Sit, already. I'm starving. Your mother says we can't eat without you." _

_Korren grinned and took the seat next to his father that usually belonged to his mother. This caused her to frown, because now she had to rearrange the plates. "Did you have fun with Genji today?" _

_Korren scrunched up his nose and dug into his food, messily before his mother could sit down. "No," he said with his mouth full. "Genji lies." _

_His parents shared a strange look. "Oh? About what?" _

"_He lets me win when he spar. He pretends I beat him, but I know I didn't." Tonraq smirked in his seat, while his mother visibly relaxed, sharing a giggle with her husband. _

"_Well, of course he does that, Darling." Tonraq shrugged his large shoulders nonchalantly and picked up his chopsticks to start eating. _

"_Girls don't spar. He wants you to be strong. He wants you to feel special." _

"_He's always going to compromise himself for you. He's a sweet boy. When you're older you're going to love it about him," his mother nodded. _

"_I'm never gonna beat him for real if he keeps pretending I beat him," Korren frowned in his seat, unable to understand why his parents were laughing at him. _

"_She'll grow out it," Tonraq said, to which his mother nodded in agreement. _

"_Don't wanna grow out of it!" Korren insisted, with his mouth full of food. "I wanna win." _

"_Oh yeah?" his mother teased. "When you marry him you get to win at everything one way or another. I promise."_

_Korren stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Why would I marry Genji?"  
_

"_Well, sweetheart, because the council arranged it that way. Why? I thought you liked him." His mother's forehead began to crease the way it did when she worried about something. Korren wondered what she was worried about now. _

"_I don't like him all the time, just sometimes. But I thought boys don't marry boys so that's why I stopped liking him." _

_Tonraq made a strained sound in his seat and hacked up a piece of his food. Korren could tell if he was laughing or just coughing. "Ah-" he struggled to get the words out. "They don't, usually. What makes you say something like that?" _

_Korren shrugged his shoulders, focused on wrapping his food around his chopsticks so he could get as much as he could into his mouth at once. "Me and Genji are the same. I thought that meant I can't like him. Maybe I'll like Arika. Maybe I'll marry her instead." _

"_The same?" His mother's frown deepened. "Korra, honey. I think you've got it wrong. Being a boy and being boyish aren't the same thing." _

"_Oh yeah? What's the difference?" _

"_Oh, well…" Senna looked at Tonraq for help, but he seemed just as lost as she did. They were both giving him the same strange look. _

"_You know, Korra," his father said. "Girls your age don't usually ask questions like that." _

_"Oh." Korren said. "I'll tell Arika that when I see her tomorrow. Girls don't ask boys questions about being boys. She'll stop asking me." _

"_Um. No. That's not what I-" _

"_Korra, do you think you're a boy?" Korren paused in the middle of forcing a pile of food into his mouth. He dipped his head down into his plate and let it all fall out so he could answer. _

"_Do you mean I'm not?" _

_His parents shared another look. One that Korren recognized as meaning they would argue when they thought he was asleep. _

"_Well of course you're not," Senna said. "You're our little girl." _

"_Why?!" He was beginning to get annoyed. "Why can Genji be a boy but not me?" _

"_You don't get to choose Korra," his mother told him. "Maybe you shouldn't play with Genji so roughly anymore. Then you'll understand." _

_Korren didn't understand what sparring with Genji had to do with him being a boy. Boys were supposed to spar. They were supposed to get stronger so that they could fight for the tribe when the time came. "You don't want me to be strong?" _

"_Spirits," his father swore. "It isn't about you Korra. Of course we want you to be strong, but your mother is right. What do you think people will say if you suddenly decide you're a boy?" _

"_It isn't sudden," Korren whined. "Nobody questions Genji when he says he's a boy. Why do I have to change? He should change too." _

"_Tonraq!" Senna said sternly. Beside him, his father noticeably tensed. "She's confused. I told you about letting her play with those boys!" _

"_No. Senna she's only seven, she'll grow out of it. We can't punish her for thinking like a seven year old." _

_-X-_

_"Korra? Korra, if you hold him down any longer he'll die." Senna joked with the slightest hint of a laugh in her voice. Korren was always prone to blacking out when given a task he felt was of little importance. He was hardly ever focused when in healing classes that meant. After all, healing wasn't meant for warriors. It was meant for women, so that they could serve some sort of purpose when it comes to battling and for men too disgraced to fight anymore. Korren wanted to be neither. He wanted to wield a sword or to at least find some sort of better use for his waterbending than this. _

_He stared down at the doll between his hands blankly. He was to be putting it in the healing pool __**feet**__ first. Then he was to sink it down slowly to assure it's comfort, and begin its 'healing' session assuming it's injuries were to the lower body, as he was taught to do. It was practice. However, Korren had been so lost within his thoughts that he didn't realize he'd been putting his doll down head first and was holding it down, like it was something he wished to drown. Blank black eyes stared back at him from where they laid under the water, emotionless, yet too realistic. He jumped and pulled the doll up with him, accidentally splashing some water up onto his face and onto his mother. Senna cringe and shook the droplets from her best she could._

_"Korra!" _

_Korren groaned, throwing the doll back into the pool and stood. "You promised you'd call me Korren!" he snapped, angrily. "I'm done for today." _

_His mother sighed heavily, but complied. "Okay,__** Korren.**__ You haven't gotten anywhere yet. You can't be done. Sit down." In truth, Korren was never happy when he was forced to come here. And his clothes were itching. _

_"I don't like it in here." Korren said, irritated. "They won't stop staring at me!" He gestured to the girls behind him. They were around his age and knew no better. There was silence around them, as the girls quickly resumed their work before Senna could scold them. _

"_Korra-__**ren**__...Korren, no one is staring at you." _

"_I wanna go see Dad!" _

"_Your father is with the elder's council. You know that, he's doing that for you. It would be awfully selfish to interrupt. Come on, sit down." _

" _And, it smells like death. I don't want to be here any longer." He stomped, childishly, until his Mother took him into her arms and hugged him, muffling his frustrated sobs with her chest. _

_"And how do you know what death smells like, Korren?"_

-X-

"It stinks…" Korren muttered groggily. He wasn't fully awake yet, but the smell that offended his nose was too much to bear. "Stinks…" he complained.

"What did I tell you about her? Barely alive and still finds something to complain about. Gah! She's just like her father." The sound of the voice made his head pound. He recognized it, but his mind was too foggy to place a name or a face to it. He groaned, struggling to open his eyes fully.

"It actually does smell in here. What is that scent?" Another voice responded.

"It's fish oil," another said. Korren moaned his annoyance. Why were there so many people talking? "That's how it smells before its purified. Though...it doesn't smell much better after. But it's good for your body. Yara likes to keep some around."

"It smells bad," Korren muttered. He twisted, trying to sit up, or get his eyes to open enough to make out more than just black silhouettes of people. There was very little resistance in his movement. His body almost felt like he was floating. There wasn't any pain either. Not even the usual sting of his lungs expanding against his ribs.

"Can't even open her eyes and she's fussing." One of the voice complained. "Here Yuki, take over. Just like I taught you now, you don't wanna hurt her."

"Should...um...should he be awake so soon?"

"She'll go back down soon enough."

"Yeah, but he's conscious…"Something warm touched his face. Korren leaned away from it.

"She'll be in and out for a while. Don't pay her any mind, she'll just be talking nonsense."

"Well, don't you think we should at least do something about the smell? You know...so he's comfortable."

There was a laugh. It belonged to a girl, a young girl. "Nothing more comfortable than the healing pool, I'll promise you that. He can't feel a thing. It's bliss."

"Oh, um...I don't-"

"It's like being high, or drunk. You just feel all your pain melt away into nothingness."

Healing pool? That must mean…"I'm home?" he croaked. "Mom…what happened? Mom?"

He couldn't exactly feel his fingers, but he tried to extend his arms out towards the figure closest to him anyhow. He didn't get too far before his hand fell back down with a little plop.

"See? Nonsense. Leave her to fall back asleep now. No more talking."

-X-

When Korren opened his eyes again it was to a dimly lit room, the only source of light coming from a blue glow beneath him. He groaned, blinking until his eyes focused enough to make out where he was. The room had a touch of familiarity. The walls were painted a dark grey. There were water tribe patterns on the rugs, a shelves filled bottles containing healing supplies.

"Home…" he whispered.

"Um...no. Not home," a voice laughed. "Geez, you really want to go home huh? That's all you kept saying over and over. Home. Home. Home." A young girl appeared in his line of vision. She was smiling as she knelt down beside him and wrapped her arms under his to help sit him up.

"Yuki?" he frowned.

"Yes?"

"Where am I? What happened?" His upper body immediately felt cold as he was pulled from the water, and the pain in his chest returned all at once, causing him to wince and nearly cry out. It was a different kind of pain. This wasn't like what he felt before. It didn't hurt to breath or to move a certain way. The pain was outside. It was sore and burned all at once.

"I know it hurts, but be careful. Yara isn't gonna sew you back up again if you rip open your stitches."

"Stitches?" Despite the pain of it, his hands shot to his chest. He hadn't realized he was naked until now, but that wasn't was shocked him most. There wasn't anything there when he touched his chest. No painful, sore, out of place lumps sitting on his chest. Just his nipples, and two long, thick, twin incisions sitting below them.

"Yeah," Yuki nodded. "Stop touching them, you'll irritate it." She was gentle to pull his hands away but as soon as she let go, his hands went right back to touch them again, almost magnets.

"What did she do to me?" he asked, unable to mask the growing panic in his voice. _They're gone...they're gone. _He wasn't sure how he should have felt about it, but his body began to shake and his breathing, though now much less strained, caught in his throat. "I can't remember...what did she do to me?" he struggled, upon failing to recall the last few hours. The last thing he remembered was being curled up against the cool walls of the Fire Nation Palace. There was nothing after that.

"Lin brought you in," Yuki explained. "He said you were having trouble breathing. Yara said it was your chest. You damaged your ribs, you weren't breathing properly." She pulled his hands away again, and pointedly placed them in his lap. "You were begging her to help you. You kept mentioning something about a promise…" Even as she spoke the memories didn't quite come back as they should have. He could remember being carried, and the stabbing pain in his chest, much sharper than usual. Then after there was Yara's voice, doling out commands, but then there was nothingness again.

"Are you okay?" Yuki asked. "Seriously, stop touching it, you'll get it infected. I'm gonna wrap it up in a second." This time she wasn't so kind, and slapped his hand away. "You've been in and out of the healing pool for almost four days. You're going to be a bit foggy for a while, maybe even lag a bit. Just give yourself time to catch up, okay?"

"Four days?" He groaned.

"Four days," Yuki repeated. He sat still for a moment, breathing that in. Yasuko was going to murder him, if Hiroshi didn't get to him first.

"Yasuko…" he muttered. "She's going to kill me. I missed a-" Yuki raised an eyebrow as he stopped suddenly.

He was naked. It only just registered in his head that from the waist up he didn't have anything on, in front of someone. The growing panic must have shown on his face because Yuki held her arms out, not defensively but protective-like as though any sudden movement may cause his to topple over.

"No, no, no! It's okay!" she rushed.

"DON'T LOOK!" He shouted, this time bring his arms up to his chest in an attempt to hide it instead of out of curiosity.

Yuki was quick to look away, the sound of him shouting shocking her more than anything else. "Sorry! Sorry! But I already saw. I helped Yara, you know…"

"You WHAT?" His heart was now pounding loudly in his hears. "You touched them?" It was strange to say, especially now that his arms were strangely empty as he instinctively tried to hide the nothingness that was there. "I didn't ask you to touch me! Why would you do something like that?!"

"I…" Yuki flustered. "I work here. Of course I help"

He stumbled to get out the pool, ignoring the pain moving so quickly brought. "I need to see Yara! Where is she?" He paused. "You saw...all of it?" He couldn't breathe though that was the point of his. His mind was racing and his couldn't stop shaking. "You saw! She let you see me like this?"

"Yeah, but it's not a big deal. I was trying to help-"

"Did anyone else-"

"Just Lin," Yuki answered quickly, "but you and him are the same so he explained it really well. Really, it isn't a problem. Korren? Korren! Please calm down." Korren dashed around the room best he could, searching for his shirt. When he couldn't find it, he settled for one of curtains hanging on the wall. He pulled it down and wrapped it tightly around his chest.

"You can't tell anyone. I'll kill you if you breathe a word to any soul." He threatened, shakily.

"Why would I tell anyone?" Yuki asked. "Lin explained what this is, and I understand. Please, Korren I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"Where's Yara? I need to talk to Yara!" He stumbled towards the door, but before he could get out Yuki stepped in front of it, and put her hands out to stop him.

"Wait, I'll get you Yara, and a shirt. You don't want to go out there like this." He frowned at her, waiting for an explanation. He wasn't in any mood to be told what he would and would not do.

"Um…" she hesitated, "Asami is out there…" In that moment Korren felt his entire world crumble around him. Asami was just beyond that door. He could bare to think...what if she saw? What if she knew as well? Was she waiting out there to take him to her mother? Yasuko would throw his body into the deepest pit she could find. Not to mention Hiroshi...

"I told her you were having some trouble with your lungs, that it's a past injury acting up. I told her you had to stay here for a little while to recover." Yuki continued. "You know, since you were at war and all, I thought it would make sense. I figured, since you went through so much trouble to keep this a secret that you probably didn't want her knowing."

There was no sense of relief that washed over him. Her words offered him little comfort. He couldn't shake the thought that Asami was out there, just waiting to tell him how much she hated him.

"I'll go get you a shirt, okay? You should really sit down. Try not to move around so much." She helped sink down onto the floor and left him there for a moment as she slipped out.

It wasn't long before she returned, with a towel and fresh clothes in hand. "Yara is out, so if you want to talk to her, you'll have to wait. I brought you some clothes to change into it." She placed them beside him and gently tugged the curtain away from his chest. As soon as it was gone he brought his hands up to cover his chest. "It might be a little hard to change, do you want some help?"

He glared at her, harshly, causing her to recoil. "Or I could go get Lin, if you're more comfortable with him instead."

"I don't know who that is…" Korren mumbled. "I don't want to relax either. I need-"

"To calm down. You just had an operation, you shouldn't put so much stress on your body."

She was right and he hated it. Despite his panic, his body felt very heavy and very tired. It was hard to settle down, but he didn't want to think anymore. He needed to focus on breathing, on not letting the panic consume him the way it had before. There was no foreseeable danger, he just needed to tell his body that.

"I'll go get Lin..."

"No, I can do it myself. I don't want to see anyone." _I don't want anyone to see me, _he added silently in his head.

"Oh, okay. Should I tell Princess Asami that you're still asleep then? She's been eager to see you since you got here."

"Yeah," Korren agreed. "Tell her I'm asleep."

-X-

Bolin dreamt that the entire world was being engulfed by ice. There was nothing anyone could do to slow it down, or to stop it. The Fire Nation sent all its benders to tackle the threat, even the earth benders from the colonies who usually didn't go to battles, but nothing worked. The ice was too much and too thick to be troubled by flames or earth. Shortly after, the Fire Nation, once brilliantly red and proud, could not be seen under the blankets of white and before long was forgotten as humankind tried to find new ways to survive the cold. It wasn't long before the disagreements about what was best for everyone began, and a new type of war threatened breakout.

_It's too cold to fight. How would anyone survive? _Bolin thought before he was shaken awake by a pair of thick, rough hands. He opened his eyes to the darkness, pleased to find that there was some, though not much, warmth under his blankets. His mornings here were usually colder than any other part of his day. Maybe because every time he opened his eyes, he expected to be back in his room, in the Fire Nation, where everything was always warm. Instead he was brutally reminded where he was. His toes would be numb and fingers were stiff to move. The windows didn't close properly inside the shanty-like home they let him stay. And there was no firepit to keep a warmth going. It was an old little place that no one else stayed at. He didn't think that this place was meant to be a home of any sort, but no one had volunteered to let him stay at their place and the few inns they had nearby didn't accept fire nation money. So, he was meant to stay there, quietly, until the council was ready for him again. It didn't take him long to despise everything about the place.

It led Bolin to a newfound respect for Prince Korren. He knew the Southern Water Tribe would not be a kind place to visit, but everything about it led him to question how anyone could stomach staying here for their entire life.

"Are you awake, boy?" Bolin recognized Barse's voice. It was deep, and rough, but he spoke much more kindly than his fellow tribesmen. He wasn't as quick to snap at Bolin as the others.

"Yes," Bolin answered. He reluctantly shook himself loose from his blankets and set one numb foot down on the cold floor.

"Good then. Get dressed, and come to the council hut. You do remember where it is don't you?" Bolin nodded. "Be quick. They won't like it if you keep them waiting."

_Waiting? _Bolin wondered. "They want to see me? Why? I've followed the rules, I haven't done anything." For the first few weeks after his arrival Bolin seemed to be in more trouble than he had ever been in his life. Back in the Fire Nation, the southern water tribe was considered to be a lawless group of people. But now it seemed as though they had more laws than anything else. Bolin couldn't remember them all in the short time he was there and it led to him misstepping here and there and being harshly ridiculed for it.

"You're not in any trouble," Barse said flatly. "We're sending you home now. We've reached a decision on what we will do."

Bolin paused as he searched for his clothes. _Decision? _There was no decision to have been reached, as far as he could tell. The Prince sent them a letter of his word and it was to be final. All they had to do was follow it. Bolin wondered why it took them so long to simply write up a letter telling Prince Korren of the situation thus far. It's because they weren't doing that. All this time they plotting to go against him.

Bolin felt his heart sink in his chest. He didn't know Prince Korren at all, but the man was the Avatar, a title Bolin didn't take lightly. If he had anything of a temper, Bolin could imagine this wouldn't end well for the southern council. A shiver ran down his spine. Even Hiroshi had been on his toes, careful to keep the Prince happy, or at least not too angry, but these people couldn't care less what Korren thought of them, or what he would do if he found out they went against his word.

Hiroshi would never stand for such disrespect. They must've thought that because their Prince

was now so far away they could simply do as they please. Bolin feared for them.

"May I ask what decision you've reached?" He felt as though he already knew the answer.

Barse sighed, seeming to ponder for a moment before deciding there was no harm in him knowing. "We're going ahead with the invasion. We don't know if we can trust the Fire Nation's men to offer us support, nor are we sure of what Korren is doing while he's over there. We don't have time to waste. We need to leave, go North, as soon as possible."

Bolin swallowed, "you don't say that as though you have much confidence in the plan."

"I usually trust Korren," Barse said. "If he thinks we should wait for him to send reinforcements then we should try to wait. He was raised to lead us. I think it's only fair we let him do that, no matter where he is. Besides, he has rarely led us astray. But this time, I have to sympathize with my brothers. We are not in a position where we can wait any longer. Spirits are not like men. It takes them no time at all to travel here. We have to defend ourselves."

"I don't know if it's my place to say this, but Korren was very insistent last I heard of him. He would do anything for you to get what you need. I think you should wait. There must be a good reason as to why he doesn't want you going without the men."

"Yes, however we must consider the fact that he is working with the Fire Nation. I want to trust him, but they have never been an ally before."

"They are good men," Bolin defended. "The Fire Lord thinks of him as a son. I'm sure Prince Korren has whatever he needs at his disposal. Perhaps you should wait a little while longer like he has asked."

Even as dark as it was, Bolin could see Barse smile. "Bolin," he said, "if this had never happened, if the Fire Nation hadn't stuck their nose in, we would be going North without the reinforcements anyhow. Get dressed and prepare to head home."

-X-

"You're going the wrong way, you'll get into a lot of trouble if you head down that road." Arika raced to catch up with him. She joined Bolin at his side with a kind smile lighting up her sweet face. "Men aren't allowed down there."

Bolin looked down the road with curiosity. He could've sworn he was going the right way, but everything in the water tribe looked the same to him, so it was rather easy to get lost.

"Oh," Bolin pondered, "you have places men aren't allowed?"

"Well, it is the training center," she said."Unless you want to be healer, you can't go down there."

"Let me guess, men don't want to be healers?"

Arika scoffed, cockily tossing her braids from her shoulders, "they wish they had the talent."

"You guys have strange laws," he muttered as he turned around. He was sure he was late by now. The council men already searched for every reason they could to draw their sword at him. They would certainly have his head this time.

"It isn't a law," Arika shrugged. "Just common courtesy. That's a place for women to learn. Like how you men have your place, we have ours. You don't just walk in uninvited. Where are you trying to go anyways? Isn't a bit early for you to be out of bed?"

Bolin couldn't blame her for being as curious as she was. Without anything to do, he usually tried to stay indoors, out of people's way and out of the cold. Besides, when he did go out, people stared at him. He couldn't be sure if it was the pale of his skin or the green of his coat, but he felt like a walking crime anytime he was in public.

"I'm trying to find the council hut. Apparently, I'm being sent home now." Arika's smile fell quickly, the way a woman's smile falls when she's been dismissed.

"Oh," she said. "I suppose they've finally come to an agreement then." There was something unsetting about the tone of her voice but Bolin wasn't sure how to ask what was wrong so instead he walked silently, waiting for her to continue speaking.

Silence lingered in between them as they walked. Their boots crunched in snow that always seemed to be fresh on the ground after every step. The wind whistled in their ears in a way he couldn't get used to.

Finally Arika stopped in her tracks and pointed a gloved finger down the road. "Just down there. You'll know which one because it'll smell like sweat and sound like war. Men stuff."

"You won't escort me?"

"They don't like girls in their space. Korren had a lot of trouble when he was younger. I'm afraid they haven't soften much since then despite-"

Bolin laughed, "Korren isn't a girl though."

Arika laughed as well, but in a different way. In a way that reminded him of how his brother and father laughed at him when he tried to discuss things with them he had almost no knowledge of.

"Well, if you look like one and you sound like one then…" She sighed, "He was a weird kid."

Bolin nodded, thinking of how strange it was that his own men would bully him because he didn't look as brash as the rest of him. Where he was from he could understand it, but here they were all the same. They all wore braids and blue, yet they made being an earthbender in the Fire Nation look like child's play.

Her laughter died down, slowly. Her face returned to the same disturbed look as before. This time, instead of remaining quiet, she spoke. "I can't believe they're moving ahead without him. If he comes back and they aren't here, he's going to be very upset. They're my family and I believe in them, but going without Korren is just...foolish."

"I understand," Bolin said. "Who better to lead them than their Prince?"

Arika shook her head, "no, it's not about birth right. He is just so much stronger than the rest of them. He's been blessed. Those Northern creatures cannot touch him the way they can other men. I know it isn't my place, and if he heard me speaking like this he'd probably be upset, but I think they're being idiots. They have too much pride. He is their shield and they know it but they-" she stopped talking. Her lips sealed into a tight line and her eyes darted down to ground. Snow was covering her brown boots. She shook her feet to get it off.

Bolin didn't understand her sudden silence until a heavy hand smacked him in the center of his back. It stung, even through his clothes and jacket. "Stealing our women now, Greenie?" Griff asked. He laughed, but there was hostility in his voice. "This one's married you know."

"No, sir, not at all." Bolin answered. Arika didn't look directly at him again. Perhaps if Griff wasn't here that would have instead been an eyeroll.

"It's okay if you were. We'd just give you with a nice scar you can show your friends when leave."

Bolin laughed uneasily. "Er- no. I wasn't. She was actually just showing me to the council hut-"

"Oh, that? You're too late. I was coming to find you. We have no time to sit around and wait while you fumble about trying to find your way. Here." he handed Bolin a sealed letter he pulled from his pocket. The edges of it were somewhat crinkled now and the seal was crooked.

"Barse tells me you had quite a lot to say. Something wrong with my methods, Greenie?" He scratched his beard in a way that was so idle it worried Bolin. This man could kill him and would've thought nothing of it.

"No, nothing wrong. I just thought since Korren is Chief and all...then maybe you shouldn't make any big decisions without him. That's it." He rushed to continue talking when Griff grunted in disagreement. "But I'm only a foreigner. San doesn't even let me sit in on these things, so what do I know?"

"I see," Griff said. "Korren has made his choice. He can't be chief here and sit on the Fire Lord's cock over there at the same time. When we go North, and return with Chief Unalaq's head, the Elders will name me Chief, and my boy Eiji will be next in line. Korren doesn't worry about us anymore. I don't see why I should worry about including him in any decision I make."

Arika snorted loudly and looked to Griff with a budding laugh on her face. "You? Chief? Don't insult our Elders, they wouldn't make such a decision. They wouldn't name you while Tonraq's blood is still breathing." She took a step towards Bolin's side as she spoke, to escape the leer Griff was sending in her direction. Bolin wasn't sure if he should let her hide behind him or step out of Griff's way so he could charge at her. It didn't seem like it would be a fair fight, Arika was so much smaller than he was.

Thankfully all Griff did was laugh at her like she was a child, going on about nonsense. "You really believe he's going to come back? You're just as foolish as he is. He never had the strength to stand up to those red bastards. He's nothing like his father. He wrote some measly letter telling us to wait. You think Hiroshi will waste his men on us? We would wait forever. Tonraq would have been back already. And you know what?" Arika didn't respond. "I bet Asami's pussy is tight and like fire on his tongue. He isn't coming back."

With that he walked away, now visibly angry. Bolin waited until he became smaller in the distance to let go of a breath and tuck the letter safely in his pocket.

Arika grunted and raised her arm, a long stream of water followed. She near screamed and she threw her hand forward and slashed the water into the distance after Griff. It was fruitless, and Griff's figure didn't even seem to notice.

"I bet Asami's pussy is tight!" She mimicked, annoyed. "How would he know what Korren is doing?"

Bolin shrugged. "He's probably right. I think they'd probably be married by now… there isn't a man in the Fire Nation who doesn't wonder what Asami would be like."

"Yeah, but Korren wouldn't just sleep with anyone. Much less Fire Princess-"

"That bothers you? That they're married?"

Arika grunted, "why would that bother me? Korren can do whatever he wants. I have no say."

"I don't mean to offend you, it's just...out of everything he said, that's what you seem most upset about."

"I'm just worried that's all."

Bolin frowned, confused. "That he's sleeping with someone else-"

"No! About him! That's all."

"Is he your husband by any chance?"

"My husband died six years ago. Griff won't let him stay dead. He's upset because I-" She stopped short and glared at Bolin. "It's none of your business. Don't you have packing to do?"

Bolin shrugged, "I didn't bring much. It shouldn't take me long. Tell me why he's upset…what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything I wasn't allowed to." Arika turned around on her heels and began walking away. "I have work to do," she called over her shoulder. "I have kids, you know. As much as I would like them to, they don't feed themselves."

"I love kids!" Bolin said. "How old are they?"

"Seven and five."

Bolin frowned for a moment, adding the years in his head. "But I thought your husband was dead?"

"He is," she taunted.

He gaped "Ooo, you have an illegitimate child? Please tell me!" He begged. "Please? Does it have to do with Korren? Or maybe Griff…"

"Hush, Bolin. People can hear you when you speak you know."

-X-

"Five days! _Five _days! That's how long you've been gone for!" Yasuko wasn't exactly shouting at him, but she might as well have been with the way her voice was ringing in his ears. She paced around his seat, back and forth. She was too angry to properly look at him, but everytime she paused for a second, and it seemed as though she was calming down, she snuck a peek and then her anger would flare up again.

"You know what Hiroshi thought?" She didn't wait for him to answer before she ranted on. "He thought his precious Prince ran off with some water tribe whore. Do you want to know who he blamed? Surely not you, of course not. Not his precious Prince Korren because you can do no wrong! I had to remind him that you're just some southern brat he picked up." She stopped pacing again. This time she looked directly at him for a long time. Her hands curled her at her side, as though she was trying very hard to keep them from fisting.

"And here you are, back like nothing has happened! There's no calming down that man, you know. I'm holding you and your lungs responsible for all the damage he caused!"

Korren didn't respond, just tried his best to look at ease in his seat while she continued ranting. The binding they put over his wounds were uncomfortable. It took a lot to not sit there and pick at it like he wanted to.

"Mother," Asami said, sounding just as tired as Korren felt. "It isn't his fault. You can't possibly blame him for a medical condition."

Yasuko didn't soften towards her daughter, just continued her intense glare at Korren beside her. "Oh, yes I can. If this was such a problem, why didn't you tell anyone? That way we could prepare for it. We have hospitals you know. Instead you'd rather faint in the corridors, so that witch could come pick you up!"

"Actually it was a guard who found me. I think his name was Lin-" Korren started, but Yasuko wasn't finished with him yet.

"Oh! And you burned down your room! You want to explain that?"

Korren shrugged, "I'm not a very good firebender."

Yasuko narrowed her eyes at him, "is that all you have to say?"

Korren sighed. "I'm sorry about the room, and about disappearing. I didn't mean to make you worry about me." He offered her a pout and his sweetest eyes, but all that did was earn him a pillow to the face. Korren was surprised, she had impeccable aim. Asami stifled a laugh beside him.

"Oh?" Korren questioned. "So, she doesn't get a pillow for laughing?"

"_Shut_ up!" she snapped. Asami stopped laughing beside him as well, now reverting back into a quiet figure beside him. Korren shut his mouth as well. It probably wasn't a good idea to agitate her any further. She leaned over him and pointed a finger in his face. "_You!_" she drawled out, "You're going to meet General San like you were supposed to tomorrow morning, and you're getting on the first ship to the Colonies, and then you're going to do what I asked you to! _Five _days!" she emphasized. "Five. What a waste. No more nonsense. I am not Hiroshi, Korren. I do not waste time."

Korren's eyes focused uncomfortable at the finger she was pointing at him. She was so stern, so threatening. He couldn't imagine what she would have done to him if she was a bender. "It's been awhile since anyone has commanded me to do anything that wasn't vulgar," he said, pushing her hand from his face. She visibly didn't seem to enjoy him touching her, she even winced, drawing her hand back and tucking them safely over one another across her chest. It didn't Korren long to figure out why. On her wrists there were two blotching bruises that she hid with her sleeves...or tried to anyways.

"Fine," he said blinking away from her hand. "I'll go meet San in the morning-"

"Right now!" Yasuko corrected. "He's waiting for you right now! I want you gone in the morning."

The wounds on his chest protested as he switched positions in his seat. He tried not to let it show on his face. "Morning? That's a bit soon…"

"You would have had five days if you had told someone you were sick!"

"I'm not sick-"

"Are you even in proper condition to go?" she sneered.

A smile crept back over Korren's face, "careful Yasuko. The walls might think you care about me."

She took in a sharp breath, "I don't want you embarrassing me!"

"Right…"

"Get up! Go see San! He's waiting for you." She ushered him up and out of his seat. "He'll fill you in on what you need to know, so make sure you pay attention. And I expect this to be a fast job, if you even so much as think about wasting your time with women, or alcohol, or whatever else it is you do-"

"I understand. In and out. I get something out of this too, remember?" Yasuko rolled her eyes.

"Yes, now go."

"Where will I sleep tonight?" He wondered aloud as Yasuko pushed him towards the door. "I suppose I have no clothes as well…"

"You can sleep in the corridors, with the witches. You seem to like it." Yasuko shot back.

Asami spun around her seat, watching them go. "You can sleep in my room tonight if you'd like to Korren. And getting you clothes isn't a problem. I can have a bag packed for you by morning."

Korren didn't miss the glare Yasuko sent her daughter, but he didn't comment as she pushed him through the door.

-X-

There was a lot of noise coming from Yasuko's room. Korren was hesitant to knock, instead opting to push the door open and peek inside. The room was in disarray, very different from the prim and neat place he sat in just a few nights before. Yasuko stood in the middle of it, her skirt torn so badly, it barely covered her body. Her face was bright red in a few places, her lip dripping a steady line of blood down her chin. Hiroshi stumbled towards her in his usual drunken manner, but Korren had no doubt in his mind that the man knew exactly what he was doing.

"How dare _you_?" He drawled out. "You really have so much nerve? You would dare undermine me? _Me? _After everything I've done for you?" He reached out towards her, and she let him, almost giving herself over to him to slap and throw down. He climbed atop her, his large figure blocking out hers completing. "You go behind my back? And talk to him? What must he think of me? What else have you done?" He shook her. "You think you can make a mockery of me? In my own home? Women like you don't deserve my kindness."

She let out a loud groan as a slap echoed throughout the room, but that was all before the only sounds were him grunting and the thuds of her body slamming against the floor. "Why do I need to hear from my guards that my wife is a conniving bitch?"

There was a gasp, and a low thumping sound as she attempted to pry his hands from around her, but failed, insteading trying to beat him off. "Hiro-shi!" She groaned out. "I can't- I _can't_-" another gasp, but Hiroshi didn't seem to be relenting.

Korren stormed forward, ignoring the protesting ache in his chest as he did so, and grabbed Hiroshi by the back of his shirt, yanking him off. It wasn't an easy task. Hiroshi was a big man, but instead of the familiar feeling of his lungs against his ribs, he felt a tear as his skin pulled apart.

The Fire Lord yelped, angrily throwing up a flaming fist in his direction and swinging before he could recognize who he was swinging at. The fire just barely missed Korren, but that was enough for Hiroshi to looked panicked. He stumbled to his feet and stared at Korren in disbelief for a moment before a wide and misplaced smile spread across his face.

"Korren!" He cheered, throwing an arm around him. "I'm glad you're here!" He glanced down at Yasuko, who was struggling to recover on the floor. She gave them both a dirty look and pulled her now torn shirt back over her breasts.

"I wanted to talk you!" he patted Korren on the back heavily. When Korren shook him off, he took little offense to it and instead gestured to the maid girl standing stiffly in the corner of the room. "Make yourself useful!" he snapped at her. "Can't you see your Prince has come to visit us? Get him a drink."

Korren recognized her as the naked woman Yasuko had relations with. She didn't hide the disgust on her face towards the both of them as she walked over to the dresser to pour them a drink with trembling hands. "Where have you been, boy? Don't you know you can't just disappear like that?"

Korren's face twisted, "is this how you treat your women, Hiroshi?"

Hiroshi paid Yasuko no mind as she stood, desperately trying to retain some of her dignity. She swept her thick black hair from her face and searched for it's clip on the ground. When she found it, she clipped her hair back up, neat as she could and wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.

Hiroshi laughed, taking the drink from the maid girl. Korren refused his. "I was worried about you! I thought after everything I've done for you, you decided to leave me. I didn't want to have to send anyone after you, you know how tedious that would have been? Next time you wish to go somewhere, tell me. You know I won't refuse you."

"You beat your women when you're unhappy?"

Hiroshi scoffed, "beat? Is that what you call that? I didn't think you were so kind. I barely touched her." Korren looked back at Yasuko, whose face seemed to be bloody no matter how much she wiped. "You know how women are? They forget where they belong. There is a reason she isn't sitting on that throne." He took an angry drink from his cup. "She has no claim to the Nation. No power that is rightfully hers. What makes her think she can go behind my back and tell my soldiers what to do? She wants to make me into a fool."

It dawned on Korren then that after years of Yasuko fixing his mistakes, he must have only just learned of this. "You make yourself into a fool," Korren said through clenched teeth. "This wouldn't be a problem if you would just be a proper Fire Lord like you're supposed to! At least she doesn't waste my time."

Hiroshi's eyes darkened towards him. "Are you playing favorites now, Korren? I'll remind you, she doesn't care an ounce about you or your people. She's a snake."

"Need I remind _you _that you took me from my home and have made no progression towards helping me in my war? I'm not here for your enjoyment, Hiroshi."

"You haven't earned a thing! You haven't even married yet. And you dare ask for anything?! Most men would sit back and enjoy all I am offering."

"I thought you wanted me because I am not most men? You make a fool of yourself Hiroshi. Don't blame her for picking where you lack."

"She can't even bend! You're concerning yourself with a woman like her? You're lower your standards Korren."

Korren's fist tightened at his side. There was nothing he wanted more in the moment than to hit the man the way he had hit Yasuko. But the open wounds on his chest stung painfully anytime he so much as moved. It was in his best interest to keep as calm as he could. "This isn't about my standards! It's about right from wrong. Look at what you've done to her!" He gestured to Yasuko. She looked away. "What kind of man beat a woman because she's trying to help him? At least I'm not sitting around hoping she will listen to me."

Hiroshi's cup shattered in his hand as he squeeze it. Korren watched him step on the pieces at his feet. "And you think you're a better man than me?"

"My father never laid a hand on my mother-"

"And what will you do about it? You forget, the only reason you have power here is because of me?"

"I don't need status to make sure you regret laying a hand on her."

Instead of responding Hiroshi angrily shoved past him and stormed out the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning back to Yasuko. The maid girl was already by her side, softly wiping away the blood that kept pouring from her mouth. "I'll go get Yara. She's a talented healer. She can help-"

"Get out," Yasuko muttered through clenched teeth. It was so low that Korren almost missed it.

"What-"

"OUT!" She shouted, her golden eyes burning angrily. "Get out! Now!" She pointed a sharp finger towards the door. "Now."

Korren hesitated, sparing one last glance at her. Her face was serious, and despite the shredded clothes and bloodied skin, in that moment she looked every bit the Empress that she was. He swallowed his guilt and finally made his exit.

* * *

**As usual, HUGE thanks to Cookie. She's super helpful and honestly I don't know how she puts up with me. **

**So...what'd ya think? :) Please, please, please leave me a comment. I live off of those. Feel free to ask questions, or leave suggestions also. **

**Till next time. **

***Flies away* **


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